Home Sweet Home
by beccalucy
Summary: This story follows closely to the plot of season 2 of SOA, with a few new twists and turns added. This is re-upload and to anyone who had read it before I have made a few small changes but nothing that effects the major plot. EDITED.
1. Chapter 1

_This story is based around Season 2 of The Sons Of Anarchy. I own nothing apart from my own OC'S_

_I have edited and re-uploaded this story. If you have read this story before _

_I have made a few small changes but nothing that effects the major plot._

_The reson for this is because i am currently in the middle of writing_

_a squeal to this story and wanted to make sure everything_

_matched up. I will start uploading the squeal when_

_I have uploaded all the chapters of this story._

_Enjoy._

**Home Sweet Home**

**Chapter 1**

Winding down the window of the black 1967 Mustang she lit up yet another cigarette. She was on her second maybe even third pack, she had lost count, all she knew was that they were keeping her calm and right now that's was exactly what she needed to be. Another half hour went by before she finally saw what she'd been waiting for.

She never thought that the word 'Charming' could look so good. She turned up the radio which just happened to be playing one of her favourite songs. Her foot weighed heavily on the accelerator making the 320 horses roar into action leaving the Charming sign behind her.

Working her way around the quiet streets of Charming she realised that nothing had changed in her years away, which didn't surprise her. After driving down a couple more streets she finally arrived at her destination.

Pulling into the parking lot she instantly felt her whole body ease, and finally she let out the breath that she had been holding in the entire trip. She was safe.

Her feeling of calmness however wasn't long lived. Her cell started ringing for like the hundredth time. She knew exactly who it was and that's why she ignored the call just like she had the others, she threw her phone behind her on to the back seat of the Mustang. Running her fingers through her long dark hair she tried hard to re-focus her mind. She was here for a reason and if she didn't do it now, then she would end up talking herself out of it like she had done many times before.

Shutting off the engine, she hurried out of the car unable to cope with being cooped up inside the small confines for a second longer. Every bone in her body was aching. She raised her arms above her head stretching out her sore, weary muscles. Her white tank top raised to show off her skinny mid-drift. She had lost a lot of weight since the last time she was here. Lowering her arms she realised that her stomach was on show. Instinctively she pulled her top down, before looking around to see who, if anyone was watching. And that's when she realised that she had gained the attention of the workers in the garage.

"_Fucking men._" She muttered to herself as she leaned into the car to grab her sunglasses, bag and jacket.

She hovered for a second or two debating with herself whether or not to take her cell, but when it started ringing again her mind was easily made up. She slammed the door shut leaving her cell locked inside.

Walking over to the workshop she added an extra swing to her hips. She did this for two reasons. Reason one was to simply toy with them. Reason two, she needed something, information, and she knew an extra hip wiggle would most likely get her exactly what she wanted.

###########################

"Hey Darlin, what can I do for ya?" One rather overweight, sweaty worker asked as his eyes rolled all over her body.

"Well." She replied trying not to vomit at the thought of him mentally undressing her. "I was wondering if you could help me..." Looking around she noticed she had the attention of all the workers "Well if any of you can." A sweet innocent smile forming on her face.

"I'll defiantly try sweet cheeks." Replied the overweight worker as he took a step towards her. "So?"

"I'm trying..." Realising just how sweaty this man was she now regretted the extra hip wiggle. "I'm looking for Jay." Looking around she was hoping to get answers but instead all she got was confused stares. "Jax Teller." Finally she saw realisation on their faces, they knew that name.

"Who wants to know?" Another voice asked.

Turning on her heels she looked around trying to locate the new voice, when a younger taller and all together much fitter man made his way to the front of the group.

"_Now that's more like it."_ She thought to herself.

"Now that would be telling." She answered coyly. Seeing no change in the young man's expression she tried again. " I'm an old friend and I'm just passing through. Thought I'd say hi."

"Well...um" He stuttered. "I...I...don't think I should."

"Please." She pouted, drawing closer to him "He would be sooooooo pissed if he knew I'd passed through town without saying hello."

He thought about it for a second not knowing what to say. She was a stranger and he knew how the Club felt about strangers. But she was tiny, barley making 5'3, how could she be a threat. Before he could think about it the words were already leaving his mouth.

"He's in the clubhouse. But..."

Before he finished she was already heading out of the workshop and over to the clubhouse. She waved her hand shouting_ 'thank you' _over her shoulder. They all took one last look at her, or more her ass in the tight jeans she was wearing, when a younger mechanic let out in one huffed breath.

"Why is it always Jax?" This was followed by laughter and agreement from everyone as they went back to their work.

######################

The Clubhouse was empty, her eyes landed directly on the two closed double Oak doors in front of her, she smiled to herself. Walking around she rummaged in the pocket of her black leather jacket and pulled out a silver hip flask, which she took a large swig from. Grimacing as the amber liquid burned it's way down her throat.

As she replaced the flask back into her pocket, something caught her eye. As she walked over to the object, she felt her hand timidly reach out, resting on the cold mental of the blue motorbike. The touch causing a shiver down her spine, but it wasn't from the coldness of the metal it was the memories this bike held for her. She picked up the photo that was resting on the leather seat. Her fingers traced over the man in the picture, as old memories' took over her mind.

#######################

Tig was the first to leave the room after Church. He headed over to the bar like he always did after a meet, but this time he came to an abrupt halt making all the guys behind him collide into each other in a domino effect.

"What the fuc..." Juice raged before Tig cut him off.

Tig grabbed hold of Juice's head, slowly turning it towards John's old motorbike. Juice along with the others suddenly realised why Tig had come to a sudden stop.

"Hey sweetheart you lost?" Tig asked as his eyes lingered on her ass.

Hearing a faint voice behind her, she replaced photograph back on the leather seat. Taking a deep breath, to compose herself she turned around. She was greeted by six guys all of whom were staring at her just like they had been in the garage. Before she or anyone else could say anything a voice at the back of the crowd took everybody's attention including hers.

"What the HELL is going on here?" Jax shouted as he tried to figure out what was causing this little gathering.

"Well um..." Chibs looked back to face Jax, before motioning his head over to the young girl.

Following Chibs eye line, Jax pushed his way through the crowd, everyone parting to let him through.

"This better be go..." He stopped dead as he took in the girl standing in front of him, he knew there was something familiar about her but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"Hey Jay." She muttered feebly.

"No fucking way." Jax ran over to her. Finally realising who it was. He scooped her up hugging her tightly. She responds by embracing him back.

"Why is it always Jax?" Half Sack mumbled, his statement was met with the agreement of everyone else.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Tig wasn't happy with the fact that Jax was getting all the attention from this beautiful stranger. As he started to walk over to Jax and the girl, he felt a forceful hand on his shoulder.

"Hey...Easy." Tig turned to face Clay. "That's my niece."

"What that's little Nicole?... But... I mean... she's really grown up." Tig motioned his hands in front of his chest gesturing how the young Nicole had grown in certain areas. Clay shook his head and slapped Tig around the head before he made his way over to Jax and Nicole.

"What?" Tig asked the others, not understanding what was wrong with what he'd done. They to shook their heads at him.

"Easy Jay" Nicole sighed in pain as she tried to ease herself out of the vice grip he had her in. "Can't breathe."

"Sorry." Jax released her from the hug but kept hold of her hands. He looked her up and down, surveying the changes in his little cousin. "I can't believe it."

"Hey princess." Clay spoke from behind Jax.

"Clay." She almost squealed in excitement. Clay stepped passed Jax and pulled Nicole close to him. To her delight this hug was less painful than the last.

"We've missed you round here." He whispered.

"Missed you too." Parting from the hug, Clay placed his hands on her face and kissed her forehead.

"What's with the sunglasses... long night?" He joked, but his comment actually wiped the smile off her face.

"Um...I...um..." Jax regained her attention by snatching her hand in his.

"Come on. Come meet the guys, they'll be dying to see ya." He went to walk over to the guys but stopped when he felt Nicole pull him back. He looked back at her in confusion.

"Actually can I speak to you? In private." Her eyes flitted between the pair of them.

"Sure." Jax replied leading her to his room. Clay followed behind them.

"What is it?" Clay asked as he closed the door behind them.

"Maybe you should both sit down." Jax and Clay exchange worried looks, as they took a seat.

"I don't want either of you to freak out, because I'm okay." She stated as she tried to ease them into what she had to tell them.

She remained silent for a second, she knew she had to do this, had to tell them, but she was a little scared. Taking a deep breath she slowly removed her big bugged eyed sunglasses with shaky hands. The room went pain achingly silent as the two men sat there staring at her. In removing her sunglasses she revealed a dark purplish bruise under her left eye and another bruise along her right cheek bone.

Jax jumped to his feet making his way to Nicole. He placed his hand on her face so he could have a closer look at her bruises. She picked up on the sadness in his eyes, her eyes fell to the floor. She was disappointed in herself, disappointed that she had allowed this to happen to her.

"Who did this?" Clay asked with a surprising calmness in his voice.

"It doesn't matter."

"You hurt anywhere else?" Nicole's attention was now back with Jax, but she didn't answer him, she just stood in silence. "You hurt anywhere else?" He asked for a second time.

"No." She lied shaking her head and biting her lower lip. Letting go of her face he paced the room. Jax had always been able to read his little cousin ever since they were kids, and her behaviour right now led him to believe that she was lying to him.

"Don't lie to me." He shouted walking back to her.

She knew this wasn't going to be easy, but she really didn't think it was going to be this hard. But now she was here she had to tell them the truth, or at least the full extent of her injures, so she lifted up her top to reveal the bruises along her ribs and on her back. She heard them gasp in shock.

"Has he done this before?" Clay asked as he got to his feet.

"Nothing like this." Jax and Clay exchanged another worried look. Not only was their cousin/niece hurt, but now they were being told that this wasn't the first time.

"I'm gonna FUCKING KILL HIM." Jax roared as he kicked the chair he had been sitting on against the wall.

"Calm down." Clay told him.

"DONT tell me to calm DOWN... she's MY cousin." Jax shouted back at Clay as he pointed over to Nicole.

"And she's my niece." Clay fired back in the same angry tone Jax had used with him.

"Oh is she?"

"YES."

"So your okay with some dick beating on her then?"

"No course not. But she's obviously not gonna tell us who did this so we have to deal with it."

"Fuck you Clay." Jax took a threatening step toward his stepfather.

"HEY...HEY." Nicole quickly placed herself between the two of them before things got out of control. She placed her one hand flatly against Jax's chest, she could feel his heart racing. She knew her cousin had a temper but not like this and never with Clay, something was wrong, but she also knew now wasn't the time for questions. One drama at a time.

"As much as I love you both for caring. I don't want this, I don't want you arguing with each other." Jax and Clay both looked at her. There's along pause while everyone tried to compose themselves. "And maybe a place to stay." She added sweetly, trying to lighten the mood.

"Of course princess goes without saying." Clay grabbed hold of her hand, and placed a kiss on to the top of her head.

"Guy's will wanna know what happened and they might not dismiss it so easily." Jax butted in shooting another death stare at Clay.

"Well they'll have to get over it won't they. I didn't come here to be rescued. As I said before I've dealt with it." Jax still didn't look impressed. She turned so that they were now face to face. "Seriously Jay I'm okay. You don't need to worry about me."

"Course I'm gonna worry about my little cus. I love ya stupid." He stated pulling her towards him as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Love you to."

#############################

Clay led the way back into the bar, Jax and Nicole following behind him. Nicole suddenly grabbed onto Jax's hand, he looked back at her giving her a reassuring wink. She knew Jax was right, they would want to know. It was easy handling Clay and Jax but having to tell all the guys in one go was a scary thought. She placed her sunglasses back on hoping to delay the grilling she knew she was in for.

"Everyone...HEY." All the guys in the bar turned to face Jax. "This is my lil cus Nicole." He announced, pulling Nicole in front of him. "Nic this is everyone. Tig, Chibs and Piney you already know."

"Hey." Nicole walked over and gave them each a hug. Tig couldn't help himself, he just had to grab her ass.

"Some things never change." She joked slapping his hand away.

"This is Juice."

"Hey." Juice gave a little salute with his hand. Nicole smiled sweetly back at him.

"_Finally the club had got new some eye candy."_ She thought to herself.

"And finally this is Half Sack."

"Half Sack?" She questioned.

"Yeah I only have one ball." The young Prospect blurted out.

"Oh...right." She laughed. She took a deep, now the introductions were out the way she knew what was coming next, but she needed a little Dutch courage first. "Right, I don't know about anyone else but I need a drink."

"I second that beautiful." Chibs spoke in his thick Scottish accent, just one of the many things she had missed. Placing his arm around Nicole, he dragged her over to the bar. Nicole turned back to look at Jax, who smiled back at her. "Half Sack get this gorgeous girl a drink." Chibs ordered.

Nicole took the bottle of beer she'd ordered from Half Sack. Deciding it was now or never, she slowly removed her sunglasses tucking them inside her jacket. She kept her head down, but as the conversations aeound here started to die down she knew everyone's attention was now on her bruised face.

"Yes there bruises and no I'm not gonna tell you who did it because I have already taken care of it. So if you could all stop looking at me that would be great." She took a large swig of her drink.

"You okay with this VP?" Chibs asked.

"Her choice man." The truth was he far from happy about her decision.

"Your right Jay its my choice." She reminded him.

"Clay?" Tig inquired looking from Nicole to his president.

"He's more than good with it." Jax blurted out before Clay could even speak. The two exchanged another deathly stare. Everyone sensed the tension.

"So we havin a party for this little one?" Tig spoke breaking the silence that was filling the room.

"That Tigger sounds like a great plan." Nicole agreed, placing her free hand on his shoulder.

###################

After another drink Nicole followed Jax to the car park. He mounted his Super Glide FXR motorbike, while Nicole headed towards her car.

"That yours?"

"It is now." Nicole raised her eyebrows as her head tilted to one side, a cocky grin on her face. A smile comes over Jax's face as he quickly came to the conclusion that it wasn't hers.

"You never change." He laughed to himself as he put his helmet on.

"YOU WOULDNT WANT ME TO." Nicole shouted sliding behind the wheel of the Black Mustang.

Her attention went to the back seat where she had left her cell. Shaking her head she refocused her attention on Jax as he led the way out the car park. They pulled into the driveway outside Clay and Gemma's house. Nicole got out of the car and made her way over to Jax, who had parked in front of her. He was just getting off his bike when he got a phone call.

"Hey Bobby... what you're kidding me. Okay I'm coming now." He ended the call and looked back at Nicole. "I've gotta go sorry Nic. You gonna be okay?"

"I think I can manage." She stretched out her arm and lay her palm flat, Jax dropped the keys into her hand.

"Sorry. We'll catch up later okay."

"Promise."

"Promise." He gave her a peck on the cheek and got back on his bike. Nicole watched him leave, before grabbing her belongings from the back seat of the car and heading inside.

Making her way inside, childhood memories came rushing back to her. She took a moment to take it all in, before walking further inside. She dumped her bag in her old room. It was very different to how she had left it, which in some ways she thought was a good thing. She made a bee-line for the bathroom, she'd been longing for a long hot shower ever since she arrived in Charming.

#####################

Gemma went to go and unlock the front door only to realise that it was already unlocked. Horror took over her. She placed her shopping bags on the doorstep as she started to rummage through her bag. Her hands were shaking uncontrollably, but finally settled when she found the cold object she was looking for. Her hand wrapped tightly around her 9mm Glock. She scanned every inch of the room as she made her way inside the house.

Nicole finally dragged herself out of the hot shower. She grabbed a towel off the rack, wrapping it around her small frame, she grabbed a second towel and twisted her long dark hair into it. Leaving the bathroom and heading to the kitchen she froze when she saw a gun pointing straight at her.

"DONT shoot...Aunt Gemma it's me " Nicole shouted raising her arms in surrendering motion.

"Nicole?" Gemma's head tilted to one side, taking in the young girl.

"Hey Aunt Gemma." Slowly she lowered her arms. "Can we put the gun away now. Please?" Gemma lowered the gun.

#############################

"Gemma...Clay...Clay didn't?" She started playing with the ring that's attached to the necklace she was wearing, she couldn't believe that she was about to ask this question, but maybe it would explain the tension between Jax and Clay.

"Spit it out Nicole you know I hate it when do that." Gemma remarked as she poured them both a cup of coffee.

"He didn't do that to you did he?" Gemma turned to face Nicole, as she pointed to the marks on Gemma's face.

"You seen Clay?"

"Yeah." Nicole frowned not understanding the relevance.

"How did he look?"

"Fine...Why?"

"Because if he'd done this darlin he wouldn't be walking." She turned back around and picked up the two cups of coffee, handing one to Nicole with a smirk on her face. "It was a car accident. What about yours?" Gemma inquired as she lit up a cigarette.

"Boyfriend... well ex now."

"Glad to hear it. First time?" Nicole once again fiddled with her necklace. "Take that as a no. What was different this time?"

"Seeing him with his dick inside some little tramp."

"Ouch." Gemma passed Nicole her cigarette.

"That's what they said." They laughed.

"So we having a party tonight?"

"Well there was talk, but if your not up for it."

"Shut up and go get yourself dressed we'll need to go the store." Gemma saw the daunting look on Nicole's face. "I can do it myself."

"No... No its okay its only one store right?"

"15 minutes 20 tops."

"Okay." Nicole went to get changed

#######################

The two of them started loading the car with all the stuff they'd brought for the party, unaware they were being watched.

After having a quick chat with Zobelle, Darby walked back to his car when suddenly something across the street caught his attention. His eyes were now firmly locked on the young girl standing with Gemma Morrow.

"Now that is interesting!" He muttered to himself as he climbs into his car.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Back at the house Gemma and Nicole were unloading the bags out of the trunk of the Mustang, when Gemma noticed something. "What are they?"

"What?" Nicole stepped back over to Gemma who was staring inside the trunk of her car.

"Them." Gemma pointed to the two large brown duffel bags.

"Um...There.. .It's just some things I took from the house." Nicole replied questioningly looking at the bags herself.

"You want to bring them in?"

"No your okay, we've got a lot to do."

#############################

Two hours later and after a lot of hard cooking and cleaning Nicole and Gemma were ready for the party.

"You okay to set the table if I go get dressed?" Gemma asked.

"Sure." Nicole replied waving her off.

"The plates are …..."

"I remember."

"Of course you do." Gemma took one last look at Nicole. As much as she hated to admit it, she was glad her niece was back, she really needed her around right now.

Nicole grabbed the plates from the cupboard and made a start laying the table.

"Who are you?"

"Oh my god, you made me jump." Nicole turned around to face the new voice, almost dropping the plates she did.

"Still haven't answered my question." Tara held onto Abel tighter.

"You don't remember me do you T?" Tara didn't need a second longer to figure out who the girl was, there had only ever been one person who called her 'T'.

"Nicole?"

"Got it in one, and this must be baby Abel?" Nicole rested the plates on the table and walked over to Tara. "Hello, yes I'm your Aunt Nicole yes I am...yes I am." Nicole spoke in a mocking babyish voice, while playing with his tiny hands. Tara stared at Nicole her eyes resting heavily on her bruises.

"He needs a nap." Tara spoke sharply.

"Can I do it?"

"No your a stranger, it might unsettle him." Nicole glared at Tara and she was just about to lay into her when Gemma interrupted them.

"Everything okay here?" Gemma asked quickly picking up on the tension between the two women.

"Were fine." Nicole answered not taking her eyes off Tara. Tara broke the staring contest between herself and Nicole, by walking to the spare room so she could put Abel down for his nap.

"I see she still has that stick stuck up her ass." Nicole snapped as she continued to lay the table. Gemma tried to stop herself from laughing.

"She's not that bad."

Nicole froze and stared at Gemma "What! I really have been gone for to long, because you would never had said that before I left." Tara entered back into the room, watching Nicole and Gemma laughing with one another.

"Sweetie why don't you go clean up before everybody gets here."

"Good idea." Nicole left the room, shooting another deadly stare at Tara as she walked by her.

"Anything you want me to do Gemma?"

"Yeah, go easy on Nicole." Gemma remarked.

"I haven't done anything she's the..." Gemma waved her hand cutting Tara off.

"I don't care who's done what." Gemma stepped closer to Tara one hand resting on her hip. "You remember how hard it was for you to come back?" Tara nodded. "Well just take a second and think how hard it must be for her."

"I didn't think." Tara turned her head in the direction Nicole had left.

##########################

Everybody had arrived and were happily helping themselves to a drink. Nicole heard the voices drifting into her room. Slowly she forced herself off her bed, grabbing hold of her ribs and she got up.

"Still hurting?" Nicole looked up to see a tall bearded man standing in the doorway.

"Op.e" She walked over to him and embraced him tightly. She let out a sigh. "I'm so sorry about Donna, I wish I had been here for you."

"It's okay... I'm okay. Plus you've had your own shit to deal with from what I've heard." As he pulled away from the hug, he hooked his finger underneath her chin so he could examine her bruises.

"Yeah, well I'm okay to. We have our family around us, right?"

"Yeah." He walked past her as his eyes roamed around her childhood bedroom. "If walls could talk hey."

"Oh god I'm glad they can't." She laughed gesturing Opie to take a seat. He took a seat on the bed, Nicole joined him.

"Times were easier back then."

"For you maybe."

"Sorry Nic I didn't mean..."

"Its fine honestly." She paused for a moment forcing her mind not to go there. "So how have you been? How are the kids?"

"Their okay, Mom's helping out a lot."

"What your Mom?" She asked in shock.

"I know mad ain't it, she's finally acting like a Mom should."

"Shit." Nicole leant behind Opie and picked up her bag. She pulled out a joint and lit it, inhaling deeply. "Think we both need this."

Opie accepted the joint from her. "This takes me back. How many times did we get caught doing this?"

"To many. So how have you been dealing with things?"

"Honestly?"

"Always."

"Not good, but I'm getting there. Found the guy that did it."

"And?"

"I sorted it." Opie stared at his feet taking another long drag from the joint.

"I'm sorry you had to do that. I'm here if you need anything." She placed a comforting hand on his knee.

"You staying then?"

"For now."

"Good." He kissed her cheek.

"Now stop hogging my joint." Opie laughed as he handed her the joint. He watched her slowly breathe it in, before both their attention was on the door, or more on the person leaning in the door frame.

"This takes me back. You two never change. Now put that out and get cleaned up for dinner. Everyone's waiting." Gemma ordered before returning to the kitchen.

"We better get out there."

"Yeah I suppose."

"Well you are the guest of honour." Nicole rolled her eyes, as she accepted the hand that Opie was holding out. They head into the living room.

"Trouble has just walked back into my life."

"Moi... trouble I have no idea what you are talking about Elvis." She replied with a cheeky smile. Everybody laughed. Nicole walked over to Bobby and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

#############################

"That as always was amazing." Tig said as he leant back on his chair rubbing his stomach.

"Glad to hear it" Gemma responded as she started clearing the empty plates.

Tara, Gemma and Nicole were cleaning up, while the guys continued drinking and smoking. The cleaning got done pretty quickly, due to the fact that no one was talking.

"We done here?" Nicole asked finally breaking the silence.

"Yeah." Gemma nodded.

"I'm gonna have a smoke."

"Okay darlin, you okay?"

"Yeah it's just been a long day." Nicole slid out the back door.

"What." Tara questioned noticing that Gemma was staring at her.

"You could of at least tried to make conversation."

"She didn't either."

"Oh my god." Gemma slamed the draw shut in frustration, before storming out of the kitchen. Tara looked at the back door and decided Gemma was right they needed to talk. As she went outside she saw Nicole leaning against the fence. She cautiously made her way over to her.

"Nicole can we talk?"

"Sure what is it?" Nicole knew what was coming, and she wasn't in the mood for Tara's bullshit.

"I just want you to know I love Jax and..."

"Tara stop. I've heard all this before." Nicole cut her off taking another long drag from her cigarette.

"I couldn't stay last time I had to leave, surely you of all people should understand."

"DONT... don't you dare compare my situation with yours." Nicole shouted as she stepped closer to Tara.

"I'm sorry, I know you hate me." Tara tried to avoid eye contact with Nicole.

"Tara I don't hate you I never have, I just hate what you did. He was broken when you left. I didn't think he would get over it but he did, and now I find out that your back in his life." Nicole paused taking another drag of her cigarette. "The only thing I want to know is if you're going to do it again because he couldn't survive it."

"I promise you I'm here for good. I couldn't deal with this life before." Tara admitted.

"But now you can?"

"Yes. I'm in this relationship for the long haul."

"You better be, because if you leave I will find you Tara." Tara nodded to Nicole's threat.

"So are we good?"

"Yeah were good." Nicole replied flicking her ash onto the floor.

"Good. We better get back in there."

"You go I'm gonna stay out here for a bit."

"You want company?"

"No." Tara nodded before heading back inside. She bumped into Jax who was leaning against the door frame, he'd obviously been watching them.

"She okay?" Jax asked nodding over to Nicole.

"She's okay... think she could do with her big cousin though." She stole a kiss before walking inside.

Nicole flicked her cigarette away as the cool breeze hit her body. She leant against the fence her mind drifting a million miles away.

"You okay?"

She turned her head to the side to see Jax who was now leaning on the fence with her. "Yeah I'm good."

"Everything okay between you and Tara?" Nicole shook her head, and laughed a humorous laugh.

"Don't worry I didn't say anything I shouldn't."

"I wasn't worried." Nicole gave him a look that told him she knew he was lying.

"Yes, you are."

"Never could lie to you."

"Nope. Anyway I wouldn't want to upset Jara love." She laughed.

"What?"

"Jara love." She repeated.

"Did you just Brangelina us?"

"Yeah I think I did."

"Your crazy." He laughed as he put his arm around her, pulling her closer. "I'm glad your back. Although I have to say I never thought I'd see the day."

"To be honest I didn't either. There's just so many bad memories here that they start to out weigh the good."

"I know it hasn't been easy for you...coming back."

"Its just after Mom and Dad and Micha..." She stopped mid sentence. She turned her head away from Jax as she felt her eyes welling up. She tried to continue but the lump in her throat stopped her.

"I know." He kissed her temple as he hugged her tightly.

"What am I going to do?" She sobbed. "I can't stay in this house forever. I have to go into town eventually. Then what?"

"Don't worry I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you. Not again."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"You want anything Princess Coffee, Sandwich?"

"No I'm fine." She said as she flicked through the channels on the TV.

"Do you want..."

"CLAY." Nicole stood to her feet and turned to face Clay who had a shocked expression on his face from her outburst. "Look I'm sorry, but I'm just wondering how long this babysitting thing is gonna go on for."

"What?"

"Clay I'm not stupid. If Aunt Gemma's not here then your here and if your not here then its Jax or Tara. Even Half Sack was here the other day for a couple of hours pretending he was doing some sort of plumbing work for you."

"We just want to make sure your okay." Clay made his way over to her.

"I know and I love you all for that but I just need some time by myself."

"Okay... okay if that's what you want Princess. I've got some stuff to take care of anyway." He kissed her before he reluctantly left.

"THANK YOU." Nicole shouted running to the door as he left.

When the coast was clear Nicole grabbed here car keys and went to her car. She unlocked the trunk and stared at the two duffel bags for a second before opening the first bag. To her shock it is full of money, she opened the second bag, which was full of guns. She slammed the trunk shut.

"SHIT...SHIT...FUCK." She paced back and forth running her fingers through her long dark hair. "Right... come on think." She said to herself. She opened the trunk back up and took the two bags inside.

#################################

She stood looking at the money that she had just finished counting. "$250,000... Oh my god... what the hell?" She muttered to herself. She knew this was not good. She jumped when she heard the front door. She threw the money back into the bag as quickly as she could.

"Hello... Nicole."

Her heart skipped a beat as she heard the footsteps approaching. Pushing the rest of the money into the bag she shoved the bags under her bed before rushing out the room.

"Juice?" She spoke breathlessly.

"Hey, you okay? You seem a little flustered." He asked picking up on her rosy cheeks and her unsteady breaths. He hadn't realised how beautiful she was before and her skin, he had never seen skin look that glowing and soft, if that was even possible.

"Hey Juice you with me?" She waved her hand in front of his face.

"Huh...What?" Slowly he came out of his daze.

"Nothing." She smilied sweetly at him, she knew that he was checking her out. "Didn't you get the message, babysitting club is over."

"I'm not here to check on you." Nicole folded her arms over her chest as she looked him dead in the eye. "Okay I'm here to check on you."

"Thought so." She breezed past him to the kitchen "Drink?" she asked.

"Sure."

Nicole pulled out two beers and handed one to Juice before taking a seat in the lounge. They fall into an uncomfortable silence, until Nicole broke it.

"You strike me as a man who knows a lot of people Juice." Juice looked up slightly confused by her question.

"Yeah... I suppose."

"Do you know anyone who deals with cars, and don't say Clay because I don't mean a mechanic. What I need is someone to make my Mustang a different Mustang." She took another swig of her beer as she kept her eyes trained on Juice.

"Yeah I know someone, but don't you think Clay or Jax should..."

"Juice if I wanted their help I would ask." She paused for a second wondering what the best way was to get him on board. "Jax and Clay would just think I'm over-reacting anyway."

"Over-reacting to what?"

"The car isn't mine, its my ex boyfriend's. The one who did this to me." She pointed to the bruises on her face. "I'm just scared that he could track the car and find me. So will you help me...please?"

"Yeah course I will. But you really should tell Jax or Clay about this."

"I will once its done I promise... So?"

"What you want me to call him now?"

"Well yeah."

Juice reluctantly pulled out his cell and called his guy. He walked around the living room, Nicole watching his every step.

"So I've called in a couple of favours and if we take it there now he can fit us in." She jumped from her seat and threw her arms around Juice.

"Thank you." She gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I'll just get my coat and I'll be ready." Juice watched her leave, his face slightly flushed from her touch.

########################

When they arrived at the garage, a tall, broad, bearded, tattooed man made his way towards them.

"Juice my man, long time."

"Dex." The two men shook hands. "This is Nicole." Juice motioned his head towards her.

"Hey." Nicole said. The man referred to as Dex simply nodded at her.

"So the boy tells me you need my help."

"Yeah um my Mustang needs a makeover so to speak."

"I get ya."

"Plates, colour, papers everything." Nicole told him.

Dex looked at Juice "You vouch for her?" Nicole's eyes were now on Juice as well.

"Yeah, she's good." Juice looked at Nicole and who was smiling appreciably at him.

"Well as your a mate of Juice's I could do it for about 3K."

"By tomorrow?" Nicole queried.

"I don't Miss.. Do you know..."

"I'll give you 4K." They both looked at her but she didn't take her eyes off Dex.

"She good for it Juice?" Dex asked, referring his question to Juice rather than her.

"I'm good for it." Nicole felt Juice's eyes on her but she ignoreed him. "$4,000 cash."

"I only deal in cash sweetheart." Nicole placed out her hand. Dex paused for a second before he shook it.

"Juice I'll call you when its ready."

"Thanks man." Juice patted him on the back.

Juice handed Nicole the helmet as she got on his bike. She wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, pulling herself closer to him. Juice almost lot control of his bike, the feel of her touching him and moving close to his body was almost unbearable. He had to use all his strength to keep focused on the road. _"God she smells amazing."_ He thought to himself. Juice had never been so happy to see Clay's house, one more minute and he would be able to breathe properly. Before they made it into the house, they saw Clay rushing outside.

"Where have you been?" He demanded.

"Um.." Nicole stuttered as she straightened out her hair. Helmet hair is never a good look.

"Why are you on his bike? Where's your car?" Nicole and Juice looked at one another.

"Um...um." Nicole stuttered again.

"I backed into her car with my bike. Scratched some of the paint work so I took it to this paint guy I know."

Clay eyed Juice suspiciously "Right, well Juice we need you back at the club house. I'll see you later Princess." Clay mounted his bike. "Come on." He shouted back at Juice.

Juice rushed over to his own bike. He took one last look at Nicole, as she mouthed the words "_Thank you" t_o him before heading inside. Juice smilied to himself before driving off.

########################

Later the next day Juice came to pick up Nicole and take her to the garage. When they got there Dex was waiting for them.

"Hey Dex."

"Juice, Miss." He nodded at Nicole, she smiled back at him.

Nicole handed Dex a brown envelope. He took a look inside and had a quick count of the cash, happy that it was all there he smiled and gave her a brown envelope. She opened it and saw the new papers and a set of keys which she pulled out.

"Good doing business with you Miss, your new Mustang is over there." He pointed behind her.

"Thank you Dex." Nicole walked to the car.

"Hey man thanks for this I owe you."

"Nah, now were even Lad." They shook hands before Juice headed back to his bike.

#############################

Jax and Opie were working on a car together in the workshop. Jax quickly turned around when he heard the familiar rumble of Nicole's car, but instead of seeing the Black car he had expected its was now gleaming Red.

"You've got to be shitting me." Opie looked up from underneath the hood to see what Jax was on about. Jax threw his tools to the ground and marched over to Nicole, who was heading in his direction.

"Hey Jay."

He didn't reply instead he grabbed her arm and dragged her back to her car. She had to run to keep up with his massive steps. A confused Juice followed.

"You're hurting me...GET OFF ME JAY" Jax finally stopped and pointed to her car.

"What the FUCK IS THAT?"

"My car!" Nicole sarcastically replied still trying to struggle free of his grasp.

"Funny that, because last time I saw it, it was a little less red and was sporting very different plates."

"I had to, it wasn't mine it belongs to my ex.."

"She was scared Jax, she ….." Jax shot a glare at Juice successfully making him to shut up.

"He could track the car and find out where I was is that what you want?" Nicole snaped.

"Why didn't you come to me?"

"Because you would have stopped me."

"To right it's a stupid fucking thing to do. We have ATF up our asses and you pull a stunt like this."

"Well if you had told me about ATF I wouldn't have done this... but you didn't."

"Its club business." Nicole was taken aback by his reply. Shaking her head at him she let out a little laugh as she finally broke free from his grip. "Screw you." She pushed him backwards and stormed to her car.

"Where are you going... NICOLE." Jax shouted.

"That's my business." Nicole replied giving Jax a scolding stare before getting into her car. She slammed her door shut and sped out the car park.

"Jax."

"I'll deal with you later." He told Juice as he walked past him.

"PROSPECT... HEY PROSPECT."

"Yeah Jax."

"Follow her."

"What now?"

"No in fucking half an hour YES NOW." Half Sack didn't hesitate and ran straight to his bike, exiting the parking lot after Nicole.

Jax walked back to into the workshop and continued working on the car.

"Go easy on her Jax."

"Ope don't." They continue working on the car in silence.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Nicole drove to the local store. As she parked up she realised Half sack had followed her, this really didn't help her mood.

"Wouldn't get off that bike prospect, because you can go straight back to Jax and tell him to fuck off and stay the hell out of my business just like he wants me out of his." She snapped angrily as she walked over to him.

"I can't do that." He looked down at his feet, feeling slightly intimidated and scared of Nicole at this minute, she was just like Jax when she got angry. As Nicole got closer to Half Sack she realised he was nervous. She let out a breath before placing her hand gently on his arm.

"I'm sorry it's not your fault I shouldn't take my mood out on you. I know your just doing what you've been told." She said in a soft voice, which made him relax a bit.

"Its okay." He smiled at her.

"No its not fair on you. Look I'm just going in here to get some things and I promise that when I come out I will be a different girl and then maybe we could get a drink or something."

"Sounds good but I think I should come in there with you."

"I need to get a few personal things if you know what I mean?" Half Sack blushed slightly, knowing exactly what she meant. Womens things. "Is that okay?"

"Okay."

Meanwhile across the street someone else was keeping a watchful eye on the two of them.

######################

"Weston who is that girl talking to the young biker?"

"Not sure."

"Well find out." Zobelle ordered heading into his cigar shop. Weston stole one last look at Nicole before he followed Zobelle inside.

"What are we going to do about the MC I thought you said that by getting to Gemma it would tear the club apart."

"Well its looks like we under estimated Mrs Morrow." Zobelle walked over to the shop window his eyes resting on Half Sack and Nicole. "That will not happen again. Find out who she is and if she will be useful."

#################

Nicole went into the store alone, her blood boiling more by the fact that Jax had sent someone to babysit her. She headed in the direction of the flower stand. Taking a few moments to admire the collection of flowers, she finally made up her mind and picked up three bunches. Two bunches of yellow Carnations and a bunch of White roses. Happy with her choice she headed to the checkout.

"These 3 and that bottle of vodka please." She said pointing to the bottle behind the counter as she placed the flowers on the counter.

"Sure." The young clerk grabbed the small bottle and placed it in a brown bag "$30." She rummaged in the back pocket of her jeans to find some money.

"Do you have ID for that?" A voice asked from behind her asked. Nicole was so not in the mood right now. Spinning abruptly round on her heels, she was prepared to kick whoever ass it was, but instead she ended up giving him a hug.

"Oh my god David Hale you look fantastic. How are you?"

"I'm good, are you?" She noticed that he was staring at the bruises on her face.

"This." She pointed to her face "It's nothing. So how..."

"Miss $30." The Clerk asked again interrupting their little reunion.

"Oh sorry." She handed him the money and grabbed her items off the counter.

"So are you the Sheriff of Charming yet?"

"Not yet but it wont be long."

"Clay will love that."

"Well." Hale shrugged. "So when did you get back, how long are you planning on staying for?"

"I got back a few days ago. Not sure how long I'm staying for yet."

"Its good to see you Nicole."

"Actually can I be really cheeky and ask a favour?"

"Of course as its you."

"Do you have your Jeep?"

"Yeah."

"Would you mind giving me a lift to the cemetery?"

"Yeah of course, you want to go now."

"Yes please, if that's alright."

"It's fine. Here let me help you with them." He grabbed two bunches of flowers. They climbed into his Jeep that was parked in front of the store. As they drove away Nicole looked behind her and saw Half Sack sitting on his bike waiting for her. She wondered how long he would wait before realising she'd gone.

###################

"Do you want me to wait?" Hale asked as they pulled up outside the cemetery. Nicole didn't answer him, all her attention was firmly fixed on the Black gates at the entrance."Nicole...Nicole."

"Huh." Nicole finally turned to face Hale.

"Do you want me to wait for you?"

"No I'll be fine I'll get one of the guys to come pick me up. Plus you have a town to protect and serve." He laughed. Nicole gave him a sweet smile before exiting his Jeep. "Thanks for this." She said as she grabbed her belongings.

#################

"Where's the Prospect?" Clay asked looking around the Redwood original table.

"He's doing a job for me, I'll fill him in later." Jax replied lighting up another cigarette even though he had only just put one out. The nicotine was calming him a bit, although he still couldn't stop thinking about his argument with Nicole.

"Right. First thing, what did you find out about Darby?" Clay asked trying to carry on with the meeting.

"Dealer said Darby is cooking down by the streams." Opie answered.

"I know that part of Water Road only a few houses shouldn't be hard to find." Jax added, letting the smoke escape from his lips.

"Well, we find the right one, clear it out, burn it down." Clay stated.

"You're talking about blowing shit up inside Charming, its exposure Clay" Jax argued.

"Don't see another way." Chibs chimed in.

"I say we tell Unser, let the cops do their jobs for a change." Jax suggested as he leant back on his chair.

"Doesn't send a message Jax." Jax now placed his attention onto Tig who had just spoken.

"We don't know what message to send to Zobelle, he ain't gangster."

"Al'right then we let the cops handle it, but we give it to Hale. He buries the Intel then we know he's on Zobelle's payroll."

"Clay, Hale can't be brought man." Jax reminded him, they had try to buy him many times and got no where.

"Well we'll soon find out. If he doesn't shut down the cook shop..."

"Then we do." Bobby spoke finishing Clay's sentence.

"All in favour." Everybody raised their hand in agreement. Clay hit the gravel.

"I'll take it to Hale."

"Okay Jax, you handle Hale. Right next line of business Cara Cara. I think its causing problems we don't need. I think we should cut..." Clay was interrupted when the Church doors busted open.

"What?" Jax demanded as he looked at a nervous Half Sack standing in the doorway.

"Well...um."

"Spit it out prospect." Chibs shouted.

"I lost her." He admitted hanging his head low, he knew had screwed up.

"You what?" Jax banged his fist on the table making everyone jump. "Fuck sake." He stubbed out his cigarette before getting to his feet. He walked around the table pushing the Prospect out the way of the door.

"Sorry Jax." Haf Sack spoke sheepishly.

Clay followed Jax out of Church. "Where you going? We've got business to discuss."

"To find her. She shouldn't be out there alone."

"Fine, Chibs go with him."

##############################

Chibs and Jax searched the small town for Nicole but there was no sign of her.

"She's still not answering." Jax said as he slammed his cell shut "I swear that girl."

########################

Nicole placed the two bunches of Carnations on the two graves in front of her. "Hey Mom, Dad." Her eyes moved from each gravestone. "Sorry its been awhile."

A lump rose in her throat. She opened that bottle of vodka and took a swig of the clear liquid. There was so much she wanted to say to them, but she couldn't find the words so she just sat their silently staring at their gravestones. She wiped a tear from her face as she slowly stood up. She kissed her hand and placed it on her Mom's grave stone before repeating the action on her Dad's.

"I love you both, I miss you so much."

Nicole turned away and made her way to her next stop, with each step she took she could feel her heart beating faster, but as she finally reached his grave she could have sworn her heart stop beating for a second.

Getting herself together, she knelt down and placed the white Roses onto his grave. She closed her eyes as her fingers ran along the name engraved on the gravestone, which read "_Michael Lucas Darby". _She felt her tears fall and as much as she tried she couldn't stop them.

Standing a few yards away a man pulled his cell from his pocket. "Boss...the girls here." He said as he kept a watchful eye on Nicole.

###############################

Jax and Chibs had been in about every store in Charming and there was still no sign of Nicole. As Jax walked down the street he bumped into Unser coming out of Floyd's.

"Slow down Jax or I'll have to give you a speeding ticket." Unser laughed to himself at his own joke.

"Sorry you okay?" He asked as he continued to look up and down the street. He went to walk away but Unser stopped him.

"Was speaking to David before, is it true that your cousins back?"

"What?"

"Just want to know if its going to stir things back up with Darby."

"Where's Hale?"

"The station, Jax wait." But Jax was already heading back to his bike.

"CHIBS." Jax shouted.

####################

Jax and Chibs walked into the Charming Police Station. Jax scanned the room until he saw Hale. He made a beeline for him.

"Jax." Hale greeted him.

"Hey.. Unser said you've seen Nicole where is she?"

"I took her to the cemetery. Everything okay?"

"Fine." Jax went to walk away but stopped when he remembered there was something else he needed to tell Hale. "Oh by the way Darby's cooking in Charming, down by the Streams thought you'd like to know."

"How come you haven't gone after this yourself, not that I'm not grateful."

"Look it took me a lot to convince Clay to hand you this, so stop asking questions and do your job." Jax spat as he walked back over to Chibs.

"He know where she is?"

"Yeah, the Cemetery."

"Shit."

"Yeah."

########################

Nicole was on her feet pacing in front of Michaels gravestone. She took another drink. She tried to push out the memories that were running around her head, but the longer she stood there, the more she drank the more vivid the memories became.

Suddenly she felt an arm wrap around her body causing her to drop the bottle of Vodka. Another hand covered her mouth. She tried to fight against the man's hold but her attempts were useless, he was too strong.

"Funny thing I thought I told you to leave town and NEVER come back, but yet here you are." Nicole froze at the sound of his voice. She knew who was standing behind her.

"Get off me Darby." She spoke as he removed his hand that was covering her mouth. He flung her around so that they were facing one another.

"LEAVE."

"I'm done running."

"You killed my SON you little bitch." Darby barked.

"I'm sorry weren't we high on the crank you made." Nicole replied in a bitchy tone which earned her a slap from Darby. She fell to the ground.

"Crank didn't kill him YOU DID. You stole the car and you crashed it."

Nicole shook her head in denial as she fought back her tears. "No, NO."

"Yes Nicole." He grabbed a hand full of her hair in his fist, dragging her to his sons gravestone. "LOOK." He pointed to his sons name. "You did this you KILLED HIM."

"I LOVED HIM." Darby laughed at her words. "I loved him, more than you ever did. You used him as a lab rat for you fucking crank. If you weren't forcing him to try it you were forcing him to sell it. YOU MAKE ME SICK." She blurted out as she scrambled to her feet. Darby stared at her. "What nothing to say because you kn..." Darby cut her off as he wrapped his hand around her throat.

"You need to leave this town." He warned.

"No" She felt his grip around her neck tighten. She was struggling to breathe. Darby could have straggled the life right of her. But stopped when he heard the low rumble of Motorbikes approaching.

"Fine stay, but this isn't over." He said before releasing her. Nicole gasped for air as she fell to her knees.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Jax saw Nicole huddled on the ground. He ran over to her as fast as he could, Chibs not far behind. As he dropped to the floor he placed his hands on Nicole's face, forcing her to look at him.

"You're bleeding?" He said as he observed his sobbing cousin. She didn't answer. He hugged her tightly as she cried uncontrollably. He felt her lean into his chest. "Its okay...susssh. I'm here now, it's going to be okay." He whispered into her ear. "You should go." Jax said to Chibs, who was standing behind him watching himself and Nicole.

"You sure? She gonna be okay?"

"Yeah thanks man. Look don't say anything about this not until I know whats going on."

"Okay brother." Chibs walked taking one last look at the two before they disappeared out of view.

#####################

"You okay?" Jax asked softly, wiping her hair from her face. Nicole pushed herself away from his chest taking a couple of deep breaths. She nodded her head in reply to Jax's question. "You ready to tell me what happened?"

"Darby." She whispered in a horse voice.

"What?" He tilted his head to try and regain eye contact with her.

"Darby." This time she said it loud enough and clear enough for him to hear.

"He did this?" He questioned. He was trying to keep himself calm but it wasn't working.

"Yeah. We argued."

"And he hit you?" Nicole nodded. "I'm gonna kill him." Jax spat. He went to get up but Nicole stooped him.

"Please, just leave it. Please." She begged. Jax lookde at her before sitting back down pulling her close to him.

"I'm sorry Nic."

"I was being stupid... thinking I could come back here and everything would be okay. I killed his son of course he would want revenge."

"Doesn't mean he can get away with doing this."

"Wouldn't you want revenge if someone killed somebody you loved?"

"But you did your time. You spent a year in ju-vie Nic."

"It wasn't enough." A silence fell upon the pair. Jax looked at her. She was right he would never forgive anybody for taking away a loved one.

"Oh my god, I must look like shit." Nicole said after a moments silence. She wiped her face on her sleeve.

"No... Well." Nicole slapped his chest, they both laughed.

"I'm sorry." Nicole said as the smile faded from her face.

"What for?"

"Ever since I got back all I've done is cause you grief."

"You've always cause me grief, even when we were kids you could never do things the easy way." He messed up her hair playfully as he pulled her into a headlock.

"Hey...Hey." She squealed, as she wriggled herself free.

"What its true."

"Well yes...but I'm not in the emotional state to hear the truth." Jax smiled at her. He hated that he wasn't able to protect her from all the hurt that she's suffered, she deserved more.

"God Nic when did everything get so complicated." Nicole heard the seriousness in his voice.

"Hasn't it always been for us. Tellers don't do easy remember." Nicole scooted closer to him.

"Yeah." He pulled a pack of smokes from the inside of his cut. He pulled one out and lit it, inhaling deeply. "I don't know, lately everything seems so fucked up."

"You and Tara?" She asked accepting the cigarette from Jax.

"Nah, that's about the only sane thing in my life."

"Then what is it?" Jax stared off into the distance. He couldn't tell her whole truth even though he wanted to, but he knew he needed to give her something.

"Its Zobelle, he's screwing with the club and Clay just wants to go in all guns blazing."

"But you don't agree?"

"Zobelle's not your typical gangster, he's clean Juice couldn't find anything on him. I don't think Clay's way is the right way to deal with it."

"Your the VP just explain Clay will listen to you. He's always respected your opinion."

"It's not that simple, things have changed. Me and Clay ain't what we used to be."

"What does that mean?" Jax looked directly into her eyes sensing her worry.

"Nothing just father son shit. Come on its getting late and we've spent way too much time in this place." He stood up and looked around taking in the nearby graves, before helping Nicole up.

#########################

"Jax... is that you?" Tara left Abel's room and headed into the hallway, where she was met by Jax and Nicole.

"Hey." Nicole said shyly from behind Jax.

"Hey Babe." Jax gave Tara a kiss. "Will you look at her she's hurt."

"Yeah of course. I'll just get my bag." Tara said taking in Nicole cut lip.

Jax ushered Nicole over to the couch. He went into the kitchen and poured three shots of Vodka and a glass of Brandy. He downs one shot before carrying the rest of the drinks over to the coffee table in the living room. Nicole took a shot of Vodka as Jax knocked back a second. Tara entered the room with her medical bag, she knelt in front of Nicole so she could examine her injuries.

"I'm just gonna make a call." Jax got up and left the room.

"So what happened?" Tara asked while holding Nicole's head with one hand and treating her wound with the other.

"Lets just say..." Nicole sighed in pain as the antiseptic got into her cut. "I met up with an old friend."

"Well it looks okay its just going to leave a bruise." Tara informed her.

"Oh well another one to add to my collection." Nicole replied trying not to seem bothered by her current state.

"Seriously Nicole who did this?"

Nicole hesitated for a minute before taking a sip of the brandy. "Darby." She answered coldly.

"Was it because of Michael?" Nicole flinched at the sound of somebody saying his name. Luckily she didn't have to reply as Jax re-entered the room. Tara went to stand next to him. Nicole kept her focus on the brandy glass in her hand.

"She's gonna stay tonight can you set up the spare room."

"Sure. You okay?"

"Yeah." Tara leant onto her tip toes and kissed him tenderly.

"I love you." She whispered.

"Love you to."

##############################

"That was Jax, he said Nicole's staying at his place." Clay said as he hung up the phone.

"He say why?"

"Nope, guess their catching up or something, but you know what that means." He walked up behind Gemma who was standing in the kitchen. "We have the house to ourselves." He wrapped his arms around her waist as he placed butterfly kisses up her neck, but Gemma pulled away.

"What the hell Gemma?"

"What?"

"What's your problem? Every time I go to touch you, you pull away."

"I'm still sore. I was in a car accident in case you forgot." Clay knocked some glasses off the counter sending them flying on the floor where they smashed to pieces. Gemma jumped back.

"Forget, how can I forget you haven't been the same since, what the hell happened to you?"

"YOU ASSHOLE." Gemma shouted trying to hold back her tears. "Get out... GET OUT."

"This is MY HOUSE." Clay took her arm in his hand.

"GET OFF ME." She shouted as she pushed him away. No longer able to hold back her tears, she broke down. She pushed pass Clay to the spare room slamming the door behind her. Clay stood alone in the kitchen shocked by his wife's reaction.

###########################

The next morning Tara drove Nicole back home, Jax following on his bike. They walked into the kitchen to find Gemma cleaning up some broken glass. She turned around at the sound of them entering the house.

"Hey babe." She said to Jax.

"Hey Mom. Clay here?"

"No... he's... um... at the clubhouse." She replied, avoiding everyone's eye contact as she got to her feet.

"Right I'll see you all later." He walked over to Gemma and gave her a peck on the cheek "You okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine sweetheart." She tried reassuring him. Jax wasn't 100% convinced but he really needed to speak to Clay so he didn't fish for more information. He gave Tara a kiss to say goodbye, when he realised Nicole wasn't in the room. "Tell Nic I said bye okay."

"Sure."

"So what happened last night? Jax was a little vague on the phone." Gemma asked placing the broken glass into the bin.

"Darby hit Nicole."

"What?"

"She's okay, she's just a little shaken." Gemma ran to Nicole's bedroom. She knocked lightly on the door even though its already open. "Hey sweetheart, you okay?"

Nicole turned around as she zipped up her jeans. "I'm fine I've had worse." Nicole was trying to seem un-phased, by it all.

"Still." Gemma looked at her new bruise. Although she knew it probably hurt she knew her niece was probably hurting more emotionally right now than anything else.

"Aunt Gemma I'm fine, I just want to forget about it." Nicole grabbed a grey rolling stone t-shirt from her dresser.

"Okay." Gemma went to leave knowing Nicole didn't want to talk about it.

"Aunt Gemma." Gemma turned on her heels. "Bit random but do you still have that storage space in town?"

"Yeah... why?"

"Well I don't have enough space for the stuff that I brought from the house, so wondered if I can use the storage space."

"Sure, no problem I'll get the keys."

Gemma returned about 5 minutes later with the key, handing them to Nicole

"Thanks." She waited for Gemma to leave the room, before she pulled the bags from underneath her bed. She opened the bag that contained the money, and pulled out about $2000 placing it safely in her underwear draw.

"I'll see you later." She shouted to Gemma and Tara as she slipped through the side door to make her way to the storage unit.

"So how have you been?"

"Yeah everything's fine... but I don't know." Gemma took a sip of the coffee Tara had made. "I haven't had sex since the accident."

"Well that's to be expected. If your still sore."

"It's not the pussy its my head."

"Gemma you have been through a terrible experience, have you thought about talking to someone or even telling Nicole?"

"No way she has too much going on herself plus she wouldn't be able to keep it from Jax, them two can't keep secrets from each other, she would end up telling him eventually. And I'm not talking to no shrink. Anyway I have you." Gemma placed her hand on top of Tara's, the two share a smile.

##########################

"We have a problem." Jax announced to the guys as he walked into the Clubhouse..

"What now?" Clays asked. He was still stressed by the previous nights drama with Gemma.

"It's... hold on." Jax pulled out his cell. "It's Hale." He told the group. "Hey what's up?"

"_That info you gave me about Darby was bogus nothings going on out there."_

"Right." Jax ended the call. "Now we have two problems. Hale's buried the Intel on Darby."

"So he is on Zobelle's payroll." Opie chimed in from his stool at the bar.

"Looks that way. What's the second problem?" Clay asked turning back to face Jax.

"Darby hit Nicole last night."

"WHAT... Jax why am I only hearing about this now?" Clay demanded.

"Is she okay?" Juice asked leaving his seat and joining Clay and Jax.

"She's fine, bit shaky but she's okay." Jax turned his attention back to Clay "The reason I'm telling you now is she couldn't handle it last night."

"Right we'll deal with the house tonight, right now we go pay a visit to Darby."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"Where's Darby?" Jax asked one of his workers as they arrived at Darby's furniture workshop.

"Out back." The man nervously replied as his eyes scanned over all the bikers.

"Leave." Jax told the man, but the man remained put.

"LEAVE." Clay repeated as he pulled out his gun.

All the workers hurried out of the workshop. At that point Darby and a couple of his guys walked in from the back, they came to a halt when the saw most of Samcro standing in front of them. Darby knew exactly why they were here.

Darby moved forward. "I see the little bitch went running to you."

That was it for Jax, first Darby hit his cousin and now he's bad mouthing her, enough was enough. Jax charged at Darby who swung his fist at him, Jax ducked and came back with a right hook which made contact with Darby's cheek.

Darby's guys went to intervene. Clay gave a signal to Opie, Tig, Juice and Chibs to stop Darby's men. Opie and Tig pulled their guns on one guy while Chibs and Juice did the same to the other guy.

Jax and Darby were now on the floor. Jax continued to pound away on Darby, landing punch after punch onto any part of hi's body he could make contact with.

Clay lit up a cigar as he watched the fight in front of him, he was revelling in every second of it.

Darby managed to get the better of Jax for the first time. He rolled on top of Jax, and took his turn of dealing out a beating, but Darby's punches barely phased Jax in fact it only seemed to encourage him. Jax kicked Darby off him sending him falling onto his back.

"Come on, hit me come on DO IT." Jax goaded.

They scrambled to their feet. Darby wiped some blood from his nose before throwing another right hook in Jax's direction. Again he missed, but in his tired state he fell past Jax, into some shelving. Darby slumped to the floor barely conscious, as everything crashed down around him. Jax went to lay into Darby again when he felt someone grab his clenched fist.

"Think were done here." Clay stated looking down at the bloodied Darby sprawled on the floor. Jax's pulled his arm from Clay's grasp. "Come on." Clay grabbed his arm again and this time Jax pushed Clay off him.

"NO." He shouted through ragged breaths.

The two men stared at one another, each one reaching to their full height. Their breathing getting heavier with the intensity of the stare. The others sons shared looks wondering whether they should intervene, but they were thankfully when Jax seemed to back down.

Jax turned his back on Clay and stared at a pathetic Darby who was sprawled out on the floor. Jax walked over to him, pulling his gun from the waistbelt of his jeans. He bent down and grabbed Darby's jaw with his free hand before he rammed the gun into his mouth.

"This is the end. You go near Nicole, you even look at her or breathe in her direction I'll pull this trigger. You understand?" Darby nodded his head the best he could. Jax pulled the gun out of his mouth and walked back to Clay.

"Now were done." Jax said firmly as he marched out of the workshop and got on his bike. He drove back to the clubhouse not bothering to wait for the others.

########################

Jax walked straight into the Clubhouse and made his way behind the bar where he grabbed a bottle of Jack Daniels. He downed about quarter of the bottle in one go, his face grimacing as the amber liquid burned the back of his throat. He went over to leather couches and slumped into it as he continued drinking, waiting for the numbing effect to kick in.

Nicole walked into the Clubhouse. She placed a brown box on the bar which was full of supplies. She started unpacking the items when she heard a noise behind her, causing her to jump. When she turned around she saw Jax on the sofa. "Christ Jay you scared the shit out of me."

"Sorry."

"You okay?" Nicole asked as she walked over to him. She took a seat next to him and that was when she noticed the cuts on his knuckles. "Your hands."

Jax glanced at the blood on his hands, he went to take another swig from the bottle but Nicole stopped him. "You been to see Darby, haven't you?"

"Yeah and don't go at me Nic.. I did..." Jax stopped when he felt her arms tighten around his waist. Nicole moved herself closer to him as he responded to the embrace.

"I love you." She whispered.

"Me to." He responded in shock, this had not been the reaction he expected.

Nicole turned in her seat so she was more comfortable, Jax kept his arm around her shoulders. She took the bottle from Jax and took a drink before handing it back. They sat in silence for a while, both knowing that te other had things weighing heavily on their minds, but neither one saying a word.

Their silence lasted for about another 15 minutes until the rest of the guys walked into the bar.

"There you are VP that was beeeeeautiful." Chibs congratulated as he walked over to Jax and pattted his knee "Just beautiful. Hello sweet." He winked at Nicole, she smiled back at him.

"Yeah." Jax replied bluntly .

Clay walked into the bar and Nicole felt Jax tense up, before he moved from his seat. He placed his hand on Nicole's knee. "I'll see you later." He told her before exiting the bar without saying a word to anyone else.

"Opie get the stuff sorted for tonight?" Clay ordered, the frustration clear in his tone.

"Sure thing Clay." Opie replied before leaving.

Juice sat at the bar fiddling nervously with the label on his beer, glancing now and then at Nicole who was sharing a laugh and a joke with Chibs and Tig. "_She is so beautiful when she laughs"_ Juice thought to himself. He finally plucked up the courage to speak to her when she suddenly got up.

"Clay can we talk?" Nicole asked.

"Sure Princess." Pulling himself out of his thoughts. He indicated for her to follow him into the other room which she did. "What's up?"

"Well I was just wondering if there was any work going in the garage."

"Why?"

"Because... I feel bad sponging off you and Aunt Gemma, I want to try and pay my way." This was half the truth anyway, she really needed this job to cover up for the money she had.

"You don't have to."

"I know but I want to."

"If that's what you want you can start tomorrow."

Nicole gave Clay a big hug "Thank you." She went to leave, before she looked back at Clay."Is everything okay?"

"Yeah everything's fine, nothing for you to worry about." Clay lied.

"It's just I've noticed things seem a little strained lately."

Clay walked up to Nicole and kissed her on the forehead. "Just club shit. Nothing for you to worry about."

"Okay." On that note Nicole decided to leave, she knew she wasn't going to get anymore out of him.

As she left the room she walked straight into Juice. "Hey"

"You okay Juice?" Nicole noticed that Juice looked a little on edge.

"Yeah, I was just thinking... well um... I was wondering if you were going to the um rap party tonight?" Juice asked nervously.

"You want to know if I'm going to a porn party? Isn't that more of a guys thing?"

"Well... um..um"

Nicole picked up on his nerves, and felt a little sorry for him. "How about I think about it." She said taking pity on him.

"Okay." He beamed, obviously impressed with himself.

"Okay." She said her goodbyes and left the Clubhouse

#############################

Nicole paced the corridors of the Hospital until she finally found Tara. "Hey."

"Nicole, you okay?" Tara walked over to her.

"Yeah. You good to talk or are you busy?"

"No it's fine."

"It's nothing serious, so you can take that worried look of you face T." Tara smiled, relief easing on her face "I just wondered if you're going to that rap party tonight?"

"Jax mentioned something about it, was thinking of going why?"

"You fancy going together?"

"Sure I'll swing buy after work and pick up if you like." Tara noticed Nicole's eyes leave her's.

"Gemma...GEMMA" Gemma turned to look in the direction where she heard her name being called. She saw Tara and Nicole.

"Hey Darlin what are you doing here?" Gemma asked as she walked over to them. Her eyes shifting from Nicole to Tara.

"Came to see T, you?"

"Just wanted to check something about Abel."

"He okay?"

"Yeah nothing to worry about."

Tara's boss walked by observing the three women. Her eyes scanned Gemma and Nicole head to toe. She shook her head in disgust, she knew these women were part of the MC, she could tell by the way they were dressed. The older woman was dresses in a pair of strappy black sandals, a pair of jeans that looked uncomfortably tight just like her white shirt that was buttoned down to revel some black lacy underwear. The younger girl wasn't much better. She was wearing a loose black vest top that dipped at the sides, also revealing her lacy underwear. She had a pair of light skinny jeans, and a pair of black pumps.

Nicole felt like she was being watched. Turning around she saw a short ginger haired lady looking through her glasses that were perched on the end of her nose. She saw her eyes widen as she took in her bruised face.

"Can I help you?" Nicole barked at her, her voice full of attitude. The woman who obviously had many things to say but didn't have the balls to say them out loud, turned away from Nicole as she tried to busy herself with some paper work.

"That's my boss." Tara informed Nicole, gaining her attention. "She's been up my ass about the club since she started. So could you please not shout at her."

"Fine I'm sorry, you want me to apologise?" Sarcasm clearly noticeable in Nicole's voice. "Gemma you need a lift?"

"Sure babe."

As they stood in the elevator they both stare at Tara's boss who was once again was staring at them. Nicole gave her a cocky wink just before the doors closed.

####################################

Clay, Jax, Chibs, Opie, Juice and Tig arrived at Darby's cook house. Tig and Chibs went to run inside the house to check that it was empty when Jax noticed that there were cameras. He whistled to them to get their attention.

When Tig and Chibs turned round they saw Jax pointing to the house. When they looked to see what he was pointing at they saw the cameras. They nodded signalling their acknowledgement. They pulled their masks over their faces, and ran back toward the house, as they pulled out their guns.

Juice and Opie followed Chibs and Tig so they could set up the explosives. Clay fired his gun breaking all the windows at the front of the house. A couple of Darby's men came running out the house and started shooting randomly at the masked men, before escaping to their car were they fled.

Jax, joined Chibs and Tig inside the house to make sure that it was completely empty.

"Clear."

"Clear."

"Clear." Each one shouted when they'd checked their area.

Everyone else took cover behind a stack of logs while Opie finished laying the explosives.

"Who's got the remote?" Jax asked Juice.

"Ope isn't using one." Juice told them. Jax shook his head. He was worried about Opie ever since Donna's beath he seemed to be on downward spiral taking stupid risks that could easily get himself killed.

Opie came running out the house leaving him with seconds to take cover before the house exploded.

#########################

They arrived back at Teller/Morrow. Clay got out the van and went to go and see Gemma who was working late in the office. He leaned in the doorway for a second waiting for her to acknowledge him, which she finally did.

"I'm sorry." Clay spoke quietly as he moved further into the office.

"Me to." A smile creasing onto her face.

"What's going on with us?" Clay asked. Gemma felt guilty that her problems were affecting her husband so badly. If she wasn't going to tell him what happened she knew that she had to try and pull herself together. She closed the gap between herself and Clay.

"It's me, that accident... it shook me up somehow... I...I don't know I'm just having trouble." She confessed as she lay her hand on his chest.

"How can I help?"

"I don't know. I'm sorry it's bleeding all over you. I'm just a little lost baby." Clay pulled her close as he saw tears fill her eyes, but once again she pulled away from the gesture, causing another silence to fall between them.

Clay could handle pretty much anything, but watching his strong willed wife crumble baffled him and he couldn't think of a way to help her which hurt him deeply.

"I'm going to that rap party tonight so... it might run late." Clay moved a stray piece of hair from her face. He was a man with needs and not having been intimate with his wife for weeks he needed some release.

"Okay." She nodded, understanding what he meant.

############################

Tara was due any minute and Nicole still hadn't found anything to wear, she couldn't understand why she was being like this, it was a stupid rap party. Finally she made a choice. She settled on a pair of dark ripped skinny jeans and a simple white tank top, it was casual but sexy without being to in your face. She teamed this with a deep red leather jacket. She added a slight curl to her normally straight hair. To finish her outfit she put on her favourite black platforms, which added about an extra 5 1/2 inches to her height which she desperately needed considering she was a mere 5'3. When she heard Tara's car pull up, she squirted herself with her favourite perfume, Chanel No5, before grabbing her bag off her dresser and running out the door.

########################

"Great." Tara muttered as she slammed her car door shut.

"What." Nicole asked as she readjusted her outfit before making her way round to Tara.

"Ima's here."

"Who's Ima?"

"One of Luann's girls. She's trying to push up on Jax."

"Well you need to show her that Jax is yours." Nicole stated.

"You mean hit her."

"If that's what it takes. You need to let them know that he is not a free dick." Tara laughed "What?" Nicole asked.

"Gemma said the exact same thing." Tara said still smiling at the fact of how similar Nicole and Gemma could be.

"That's because we know what were are on about. I had to do the exact same thing with my last boyfriend."

"You dated a biker? Was he the one who hit you?" Nicole could of kicked herself, her and her big mouth.

"What...um...no..that was um... Look are you going to tell this tart that Jax is yours?" Nicole asked as she pointed to the entrance of Cara Cara.

Tara contemplated what Nicole had said, and decided that she was right. Taking a deep breath, psyching herself up before she entered. Nicole hung back this was something Tara had to do by herself.

"This is a closed party." Ima said rising from her seat as she saw Tara.

"I'm looking for Jax." Tara replied sharply.

"He's a little busy at the moment." Ima was now face to face with Tara.

"Yeah." Tara went to walk pass her but Ima stepped into her path.

"I said get out bitch. Now which part of that don't you understand." Ima glanced back at her friends who were all smiling, obviously they were enjoying the show.

"Get out of my face." Tara snapped as she closed what little gap there was between them. Ima laughed at this. Tara held the her ground before folding. Once again she let Ima get under her skin. Tara backed down and walked away. Impressed with herself Ima turned around to her friends as she revelled in her so called victory. Nicole had seen enough, she wasn't going to let this girl get away with treating Tara like that.

"Wow Luanne's standards have really dropped." Nicole said as she walked inside. Ima turned around and observed the stranger walking towards her.

"Excuse me?"

"Well Luanne never used go for such a cheap hooker look. Oh well guess things have changed." Nicole stated matter of factly looking Ima up and down.

Nicole continued to walk pass her but stopped when Ima grabbed her arm. Nicole looked down at the hand that was wrapped around her arm before her eyes met Ima's. Nicole's face was like stone, as she stared at her, Ima obviously got the message because she released Nicole's arm.

"This is a private party, just like I told your friend." Ima said as she tried to keep her voice steady. She would have backed away but she didn't want to lose face in front of her friends.

"Oh really. I think I'm going to stay anyway." Nicole took a step closer to Ima.

Across the room Opie noticed the confrontation between Nicole and Ima and nudged Jax who was sitting next to him. "What?" He asked. Opie pointed over to Ima and Nicole. "Shit."

"Why don't you take your sknanky ass home, because you and your friend aren't welcome here."

"You didn't? Did you just call me a skank?" She looked Ima up and down "Seriously coming from you."

"What's going on?" Jax questioned as he stood beside the two girls.

"Well this bitch is trying to crash the party." Ima replied smugly. She knew Jax would kick this stranger out, or at least that's what she thought.

"Well this bitch as you call her just happens to be my little cousin." Jax said as he took a protective stance in front of Nicole.

"I'm sorry Jax I didn't know." Ima apoligised as her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. Jax just shook his head and gave her a filthy look before turning to face Nicole.

"Thought you came with Tara."

"I did. I think she's in the bathroom."

"You gonna to be okay?"

"Yeah." Jax left to go and find Tara. Ima went to follow him but Nicole grabbed her arm.

"You put your nose in their business again and I'll break it you get me." She threatened before she roughly let go of her arm. Ima didn't know what to do with herself, she felt humiliated.

Nicole walked further inside the party as her eyes surveyed the room, as she searched for a certain someone.

"You made it." Nicole spun around and came face to face with Juice, who had the biggest grin on his face. Nicole couldn't help but think how cute he was. "You want a drink?" He asked.

"Sure." Juice placed his hand on the small of her back as he led her to the bar.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"What's the run?" Tara asked as she handed Jax a cup of coffee.

"Blood drive."

"Samcro community servants." She mocked.

"That's what were all about babe." He laughed as he pulled his jumper over his head. Once his jumper was on he leaned down and kissed her. "I love you." He said with another smile.

"I love you to." She said before kissing him passionately. She wrapped her arms round his neck deepening the kiss. It was that point Abel started crying.

"That's my boy, master timing." Jax joked as he reluctantly pulled away from Tara, to tend to his son. Jax brought Abel back into his bedroom where Tara was finishing getting ready.

"Aren't you going to be late?" Tara remarked, gaining a confused look from Jax. "Nicole. Your supposed to be picking her."

"Shit I forgot." He handed Abel to Tara as he stole another kiss from her lips.

#############################

Jax drove into Teller/Morrow, Nicole on the back of his back. The parking lot was full of fellow brothers from different charters, who were joining Samcro in the charity run. Jax pulled into the spare parking space next to Opie.

"Didn't realise you were riding." Jax said to Opie as he shut off his engine.

"Clay wants it." Opie answered simply as he dismounted his bike.

"The kids with Mary?"

"Kids are fine Jax."

Jax and Nicole exchanged apprehensive looks as they got of his bike, neither one of them liking or understanding Opie's attitude.

They walked over to Chibs, Tig and Half Sack. Nicole gave Tig and Chibs a kiss on the cheek, and greeted Half Sack with a polite smile. Jax greeted the guys by shaking their hands. Bobby came riding out the garage on a clapped out bike that was smoking up the whole yard.

"I thought you put that beast to sleep." Jax asked as he lit his cigarette before handing one to Nicole.

"It's still in its prime." Bobby replieed defensively, as he gave Nicole a kiss on the cheek.

"Barely looks like it can reach the end of the lot." Opie added unable to stop himself from laughing.

"It will beat any of your bikes, any time, any place." He told them.

"Bobby can I ask you something?"

"Anything sweetheart." Bobby said as he turned his attention to Nicole.

"You hitting a gay rodeo on the way?" Nicole asked as she let her eyes fall onto the leather chaffs he was wearing. Her comment made everyone laugh, apart from Bobby.

Bobby brushed off their laughter and climbed back on his bike. As he reversed his bike into formation it backfired causing even more smoke to come from the exhaust.

"I can't believe I've got to ride behind that thing." Half Sack protested. Nicole smilied at him, she always did feel a little sorry for the prospects.

"Shut it prospect." Chibs shouted.

Clay arrived on his bike, Gemma following in her car. Clay headed straight over to the boys who were still laughing about Bobby's bike, while Gemma headed straight to the Office without saying hello to anybody. Piney made his way over to Clay.

"Thanks for looking after this place while were gone." Clay said.

"No problem Clay."

"Hey Princess." Clay shouted to Nicole. When he had her attention he motioned her over to him and Piney. Leaving the guys she made her way over to them. She gave Clay a kiss. "Piney will show you the ropes okay. I'm sorry I can't be here on your first day."

"It's okay. And if you think about it, it's not really my first day." She said with a smile of her face.

"Don't worry Clay I'll take good care of this one." Piney told him as he placed his arm around her.

"Hey Aunt Gemma okay?" Nicole asked Clay. She noticed that Gemma walked by everybody without saying a word.

"She's fine Princess." Nicole nodded but she just figured they'd had an argument or something so it left it alone.

As the guys lined up in formation with Clay leading the way, Nicole went over to say goodbye.

"Be safe okay. And behave." She warned them all, to which they all agreed just to keep her happy.

She kissed Jax before stepping away. As she walked away she bumped into Happy, aka the Tacoma Killah. Happy was a former member of the Tacoma charter, before he went Nomad. Since becoming a Nomad he became a frequent visitor to the Charming charter, which is how Nicole knew him.

"Hey." Nicole smiled, she was greeted with a simple nod of the head from Happy. "You better watch out for my boys?" She warned pointing her finger at him.

"Still as bossy as the day you left kid." He spoke in a gravely voice, which came from way to many years of smoking and drinking.

"No I'm worse." She joked before she walked away.

############################

Clay, Jax, Bobby, Opie, Chibs, Tig and Half Sack left the formation as they headed to the hardware shop which was the pick up point for the handguns. As they walked inside they were greeted by Cameron and his son Edmond. They followed them into the back room were they started to load the handguns into the bedrolls, which they were using to transport the handguns.

"We will try and do as many of these runs as we can. If we do them when were on a charity run then we are least likely to get pulled by the police." Clay informed Cameron.

"Sounds good." Cameron responded.

"Right, nice doing business with you Cameron." Clay and Cameron shook hands. The rest of them went to leave, but stopped when Cameron's son called them back.

"Wait there's one more thing."

"Edmond don't." His dad pleaded.

"They should know."

"Know what?" Jax asked as he eyed Edmond.

"Johnny O and some of his crew might be coming stateside." Cameron revealed as his eyes and everybody else's fell onto Chibs, who they all knew had history with Jimmy O.

Chibs shrugged. "His day will come." He said coldly as he grabbed his bedroll and left.

Jax and Clay looked at one another, they both knew that this would not end well. The history between Chibs and Jimmy O was a complicated one, and even though it had been many years since the trouble between them had started, the whole situation was still a sore point with Chibs.

######################

Nicole pulled the Beige Teller/Morrow shirt over her Black tank top.

"Lovely." Nicole spun around and saw Gemma standing in the doorway of the office. Her arms folded across her chest.

"Liar." Gemma smiled at her as she walked behind her desk. "You okay?"

"Yeah I'm good sweetheart." Gemma could see Nicole was going to question her again so she cut her off. "Piney's probably waiting for you." She said as she looked through some papers that littered her desk.

"Yeah." Nicole shook her head and went into the workshop. Piney made his way over to her.

"Right I've got a few things to do so I'm going to leave you in the capable hands of Carl... CARL." She prayed to herself that this Carl wasn't going to be the fat sweaty guy she met when she first arrived. Thankfully her prayers were answered, it was the hot guy who had told her where to find Jax.

"Carl this is Nicole." They shook hands as they smiled at one another "I would like you to show her the ropes today. Right I've got to take this mail to Gemma." Piney headed into the office.

"Your that girl from the other day."

"Yeah. Thanks for your help by the way."

"No problem, did you find him?"

"Yeah. He's my cousin by the way." She didn't know why she said that it just kind of came out. "So what we working on?" He smiled at her before showing her to the car he'd been working on.

"Mail." Piney placed the mail on Gemma's desk.

"Thanks." Piney noticed that she didn't even look up from her deak.

"You need me to do anything?"

"No." She snapped. Piney left her to it.

After 20 minutes Gemma finally opened the mail Piney had given her. She got to the brown envelope which had her name written on it. Opening the envelope she pulled out a Shermans bag. Opening the bag she pulled out a white mask just like the one her attackers had been wearing. She sat for a moment just staring at the mask before grabbing her car keys and running out of the office.

###################

"Morning." Zobelle said as he cleaned the window of his cigar shop. He looked down at the brown paper bag Gemma was carrying. "If you're looking for Shermans I'm sorry it closed last month." He stared at Gemma with a smug smile on his face, he knew she was scared.

Gemma didn't say anything. As she started to back away from him, she turned around and bumped into Weston. Her eyes were drawn straight to the tattoo on the bottom of his throat, it was a tattoo she had seen before.

"Sorry Mam." Weston apologised as he smiled at her. He knew that she reconsigned him.

Gemma watched as he walked pass her over to Zobelle. They stared at her for a moment before they headed into Zobelle's store. Gemma ran to her car. She lit up a cigarette as she watched Zobelle's store from across the street, her mind racing. Gemma was pulled out of her thoughts however when a woman in a car behind her started tooting her horn.

"HEY ARE YOU LEAVING?...HEY LADY." Gemma looked back at the woman before pulling out her handgun and aiming it at the woman behind her. She saw the woman curse under her breath before driving away.

##########################

Clay and the others joined back with the other Sons. As they were driving along Bobby's bike misfired. The smoke blinded Tig causing him to lose control of his bike as he careered off the road. Everybody stopped and ran over to the side of the road where he gone over. Happy, Chibs and Bobby ran down the bank to help out their brother while Clay called for an ambulance.

####################

"Bobby I swear I'm going to shove that bike so far up your ass Bobby." Tig shouted.

"Sorry Tig." Bobby apologised before the Paramedics wheeled him inside the Hospital. Bobby went back over to where the guys were. "Sorry Clay."

"We'll finish the drop. Bobby, Half Sack, Hap you stay with him." Clay ordered.

"He'll be fine." Jax said with a smile of his face. He was secretly delighted that Tig had gotten hurt.

"Okay come on. Bobby you attend to Tig's every need, wipe his god damm ass if he wants you to." Clay snapped as he and the rest of the guys headed back to their bikes.

"Prospect, call Piney tell him we need two bikes picking up." Jax shouted back to Half Sack. He went to pick up the one of the extra bedrolls from Half Sack's bike when Clay snatched it out of his hands.

"I've got it."

"I can take it."

"I said I got it." Clay shouted as he strapped the bedroll onto the back of his bike. Jax just shook his head.

####################

"What?" Gemma rolled down the window.

"I've just had an interesting call about you pulling a gun on some lady." Unser informed her as he leaned against her car.

"Yeah."

"Is that all you have to say?"

"What I didn't shoot her." Unser looked at her in confusion. He really didn't know how to answer her. He got more confused when Gemma pulled out a white mask.

"You going to hit a bank or something?" He half joked.

"It's what they were wearing." She placed the mask back into the bag.

"Who?" Unser questioned before he realised who she was on about "Jesus Christ Gemma."

"Someone mailed it to me today, It came in a Shermans bag."

"Shermans... Holy shit Zobelle."

"Yeap."

"Come on I'll take you home." She contemplated his offer until she saw Weston leave Zobelle's store and get into his truck and pull away.

"It's okay." Gemma started her engine.

"You want to at least give me the gun then?" Gemma handed him her gun "I'll give it back later." Gemma drove away.

#########################

"I've got bad news, your not covered they've got to move you to another hospital HMO BULLSHIT." Bobby shouted in the direction of the nurse, as he relaid the information he had been told.

"Come on stitch me UP." Tig cried in pain, but it was no good the nurse was not going to change her mind.

Bobby was pushing Tig in a wheelchair when he remembered something."Shit they still have your insurance card." Bobby muttered.

"I'll get it." Happy replied, making his way back into the hospital.

"Where is this hospital?" Tig inquired.

"Half Sack go find out." Half Sack ran to the nearby ambulance that was taking them to the hospital. Bobby placed the brakes on the wheelchair as they waited for Half Sack to return.

"Clay said you have to be my bitch right?"

"What do you want Tig?" Bobby asked as he looked down at him.

"Just one thing. Leave that piece of shit fat boy at the side of the road."

"That's my baby."

"No no no I don't care. Get rid."

Before Bobby could respond a Blue van pulled along side them, and three men piled out. One of the men pulling a gun on Bobby.

"GET BACK... GET BACK." Another one shouted, as the other two grabbed Tig out of the wheelchair before loading him into the van.

"BOBBY...BOBBY." Tig shouted as the men piled in behind him. Half Sack came running over as the van pulled away. Half sack ran over to his bike.

"DONT LOOSE HIM." Bobby shouted.

################################

Opie, Chibs, Jax and Clay were filling up their bikes with gas when Clay's cell rang. He stepped away from the guys as he answered the call.

"What?" Jax asked as Clay returned.

"Bounty hunters. They've picked up Tig."

"What the hell for?" Opie asked.

"They didn't stop to say, Half Sacks following them."

"How does that happen?"

"Bounty hunters pay admin's to call them if they think someone is suspicious." Jax said in answer to Chibs question. "Guess Tig looked suspicious.

"If Tig had something on him I'd know about it." Clay said.

"Maybe out of state." Clay looked to Jax. "We've gotta go get him."

"We have a delivery to make."

"The bounty hunters have no jurisdiction, there's nothing stopping us." Jax fired back at Clay.

"How about six bedrolls of illegal hand guns."

"We need to go now Clay if he crosses state lines we have no chance." Chibs said, now involving himself in Jax and Clay's argument.

"No if Tig was here he would tell us to do the drop." Clay climbed back onto his bike, Opie following suit leaving Jax and Chibs to share annoyed looks.

"We dump the bedrolls somewhere safe, pick up Tig. It only delays us for a couple of hours." Jax stepped in front of Clay's bike as he tried to persuade him.

"Were sticking with the plan. Were making the drop."

"Maybe we should take a vote?"

"Vote all you like I don't care. Were going." Clay started up his bike but stalled it. Unable to keep hold of his bike because of the arthritis in his hands, the bike fell to the floor. Opie ran over to help.

"I've got it." Clay snapped at him. Opie backed off and reluctantly watched as Clay struggled.

Clay finally admitted defeat. Leaving his bike on the floor, he stalked across the gas station and took a seat on the nearby wall. Jax and Chibs lift up Clay's bike, while Opie walked over to Clay.

They sat in silence before Clay spoke. "You okay, the family?"

"Yeah. The road helps." Opie replied.

"Amen bro." He understood that more than anyone.

"This thing between you and Jax, I don't know what it is but it's pulling focus from what we are. I just want you to know I'm with you either way."

Jax sat on his bike watching Opie and Clay. It annoyed him to see how Clay was pulling Opie close to keep the secret of Donna's death, and Opie seemed to be falling for it.

"He okay?" Jax asked as Opie returned.

"Yeah he just needs to know we've got his back." Jax huffed, he knew that Opie was referring to him and hated that Opie was defending Clay.

"Lets get Tig." Jax looked to Clay, who was getting on his bike.

#######################

Unser strolled into Zobelle's shop as he looked around at his surroundings.

"Oh... hello Chief." Zobelle looked surprised to see him. "Were not open yet, but is there something I can help you with?" He asked pleasantly.

"I know who you are." Unser took a few steps closer to Zobelle. "What you do... what you do with rubber masks." Zobelle's face remained unphased by Unser's statement.

"I'm not sure what your on about, you have me at a loss." He lied.

"Your time will come."

"That sounds like a threat." Unser smiled at Zobelle before he left.

########################

Jax, Clay, Chibs and Opie met up with Happy, Bobby and Half Sack at an empty scrapyard. "They've got Tig in a motel about two miles down the road." Half Sack informed everybody.

"Why have they stopped?" Chibs queried.

"They gave him a hiding on the side of the road."

"That crazy prick must have provoked them, they can't take him in if he's beat up." Bobby stated.

"Great." Clay turned away from the guys, and that's when he saw Piney pulling up. He made his way over to him. "What's she doing here?" Clay asked Piney as he watched Nicole getting out the flatbed.

"Teaching her the ropes like you asked."

"Why is it a problem?" Nicole asked as she made her way round to Clay.

"Things have gotten more complicated." Clay admitted.

"Why?"

Clay looked at Piney. "Bounty Hunters, they've got Tig in a motel down the road."

Nicole and Piney followed Clay as he walked back to the others. They all greeted one another before they continued to try and figure out a plan. "Right so they have him in a motel, they will be there for a while. Call up the run, tell the Tacoma boys to get back down here." Clay directed this order to Opie.

"That could take hours, we've got to this now."

"No." Clay responded to Jax's pleads.

"He's right we don't know how long they will be there for." Chibs added as he backed up his VP.

"In broad daylight, is this the way we stay of the radar?" Clay snapped.

"And bringing five more guys into the mix is keeping it low profile." Jax sarcastically responded.

"We wait till dark."

"We don't know if their going to be there after dark." Jax was now raising his voice. "We've got eight on four."

"They're going be armed with god knows what. And we have stupid hand guns."

"We have the surprise."

"Call the guys." Clay shouted pointing at Opie. Everybody could feel the tension building up between the two.

"Call a vote." Jax shouted. Enough was enough and Clay lost it, he pushed Jax who pushed him back in one swift motion.

"You lay your GOD DAMM HANDS ON ME." Bobby placed himself in between the two.

"HEY...HEY come on." Bobby said trying desperately to calm the situation. Opie grabbed a hold of Clay while Nicole took hold of Jax.

She pulled Jax away, but his eyes remained fixed on Clay. "So you gonna tell me what that was all about?"

"It's complic..." Jax stopped mid sentence when Piney pulled the flatbed in front of them. "What you doing?" Jax asked.

"You want to get this job done, then hop on." Piney replied handing Jax a shotgun out of the window. Jax accepted it and jumped onto the back of the flatbed.

"Jay wait we ain't done here." Jax ignored her.

"Chibs, Half Sack come on." Jax shouted. Nicole watched as Half Sack and Chibs ran past her and jumped on the back joining Jax.

"Jay." Jax ignored her again.

"What's happening?" Happy asked coming up behind Nicole.

"Shit kicking." Jax said with a smile on his face "You in?"

"Jay." Jax could tell she was getting annoyed but again he ignored her. Now wasn't the time.

"Always brother." Nicole glared at Happy as he walked passed her.

By this point Nicole was more than pissed, she hated being ignored. She wanted to talk about what was going on between her Uncle and Cousin, and she was going to have this conversation with Jax whether he liked it or not. She stormed over to the flatbed and pulled herself up.

"What are you doing?" Jax snapped pulling Nicole to her feet.

"What does it look like?" She replied sarcastically.

"Get off."

"No."

"Nic, i'm not joking around."

"Neither am I. I'm staying." The two of them stood facing one another as they tried to out stare one another.

"She'll be fine bro." Happy said interrupting the two. He knew how the stubborn the two of them were, which meant he knew there was noway Nicole was getting off, without a fight, which they didn't really have a time for. "We aint got time for this shit."

"Fine." Jax seethed. He wasn't happy about the situation but at the same time he knew Happy was right.

"Where the hell are they going?" Clay questioned as he saw Piney driving away. Bobby and Opie just looked at one another neither one of them able to give him an answer.

"Can't believe your doing this." Jax shouted as he pulled Nicole in front of him to try and keep her safe as Piney sped down the round to the motel Tig was being held in.

"I can''t believe your doing this either, looks like were just as stupid as one another." Nicole smiled back at

Piney pulled the Flatbed into the Motel parking lot. He shouted out the window to Half Sack, asking him which room Tig was being held in. Half Sack pointed to the room in at the end of the building.

"We have a plan here?" Chibs asked Jax.

"Ask the old man." Jax replied.

"ALRIGHT HOLD ON GUYS." Piney shouted back to them, as he started to put his plan in motion. He pulled the flatbed into a parking space so that the back of the truck was now facing the Motel room.

"Well this is a simple plan." Jax remarked.

"Shit." Chibs pulled out his gun as he slumped down against the head of the truck. Jax pulled out a spare gun and handed it to Half Sack.

"Hap you got a spare for Nic?"

"No need." Nicole pulled out her own handgun from the waistband of her jeans. As she settled inbetween Jax and Chibs she realised that they were all staring at. "What?" She asked but no one answered her.

Happy banged on the roof of the cab signalling to Piney they were ready. Piney reversed full speed towards the room.

Tig sat tied to a chair as one of the bounty hunters dressed his wounds. As Tig let his eyes wonder around the room, he saw something heading towards their room his eyes widen in shock when he realised it was a truck of some kind.

The Flatbed crashed into the room, causing the bounty hunters to jump back in shock. They guys ran to the edge of the truck. Happy jumped down and untied Tig as the others covered him.

"DONT MOVE." Jax shouted as he trained his shotgun on the men.

"Well guys its been fun but I've got to go, this is my ride." Nicole helped Tig onto the truck, earning herself a thankful wink from him. Piney pulled out of the motel and drove away.

#####################

Unser arrived at Gemma's house to return her gun. "I'd prefer that didn't end up in your bag again." He warned.

"Not sure I can promise that." She remarked as she placed her gun on the kitchen table.

"I've got no idea how to help you Gemma, all I can do is my job and I ain't going to let anything bad happen to you again."

"Yeah, okay." Gemma replied as she fought back her tears. Unser placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, keeping it there for a few moments hoping it would somehow help. He rubbed his hand against her shoulder before leaving. Gemma locked the door behind him, before breaking down for moment before forcing herself to stop.

#########################

When they arrived back, Clay and Jax didn't acknowledge one another. Jax walked over to his bike, Opie following him.

"You've think I've got a death wish. That was some crazy shit brother, and taking Nicole aswell." Jax threw a stern look in Opie direction, as he remained silent. "No comment?"

"Just a little cautious, not sure what I say wont end up in Clay's ear." Jax remarked.

"What's that suppose to mean?" Jax could tell Opie was taken aback by his comment but right now he didn't really care.

"You tell me bro."

"Don't bring me into the bullshit you've got going on with step daddy. And don't bring Nic into it either." Jax smiled sarcastically at Opie. Opie gave up and walked away from him.

"I know your pissed Clay but the guys were right it was only a short stay, by night I would have been gone." Tig admitted to Clay.

"Take him to , if that's in your plan?" Clay ordered ignoring Tig's plea.

"This ain't on Jax, it was my idea, lets just blame it on the weed." Piney laughed.

Clay rolled his eyes before walking back over to the other guys. "Nicole, Piney's leaving you better get in the truck." Clay turned around when he heard the Flatbed driving away "What the hell?"

"I told him to leave, I'm riding with Jay." Nicole stated before climbing onto the back of Jax's bike. Clay was going to argue but decided there would be no point.

They met up with the Sons from Oregon and gave them the bedrolls so that they could finish the drop.


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER 9**

Everything was right, there was booze, racing, fighting and lose women, the perfect ingredients for a SOA party, but for some reason Jax couldn't seem to enjoy himself.

He looked around at his brothers who were occupying the same table as him, they all had a woman in hand or a bottle of alcohol and a joint, some even had all three. They all seemed to be enjoying themselves whatever their pleasure was. Even Nicole seemed to be enjoying herself, she was at the make shift bar area and was laughing and joking with a couple of Old ladies, but no matter how hard he tried he just couldn't let himself relax and enjoy the party. Not wanting to be the dark cloud over his brothers heads, he decided to leave making sure he took the bottle of Jack Daniels with him.

"Hey where's Jay?" Nicole asked when she finally returned. However her question didn't get answered and she realised that was because most of the guy's were to busy making out with bimbos to even acknowledge her. This was something she was going to accept. One thing about Nicole, she hated being ignored. "HELLO... anybody listening?" She shouted.

Nicole was surprised when Happy was the one to pull himself away from his choice of bimbo for the evening and acknowledge her. "Don't worry sweetheart you can be next." He joked. Nicole rolled her eyes, why was she even shocked that, that had been his response.

"In your dreams Hap." Nicole turned on her heels, deciding that it would be quicker to find Jax herself than to get a sensible answer from any of they guys.

Happy watched as she stormed away. "_Shit." _He cursed to himself silently. The girl who had been occupying his lap soon found herself standing on her two feet, as Happy stood on his and walked away. Happy didn't spare a second look for the girl he knew that she would just be looking at him with a pissed off expression and he honestly didn't care, he would back to her in two minutes and all would be forgiven and if not then he knew there were a dozen other girls who would be willing.

Happy caught up to Nicole and stepped in front of her. "What's up?" He asked as she looked up at him. Even in the dark of night he could see her bruises. When Jax had filled him on what had happened to her he wanted to kill the fucker just like his other brothers did, but Nicole didn't seem to want that and that was that, nothing any of them could do especially since she wasn't giving the name of the prick.

"I just wanted to know where Jay was, that's all."

"He went that way." Nicole went to head in the direction Happy was pointing. "What's with him lately?"

"That's what I'm gonna find out."

#####################

"I didn't know what Piney was planning until we were crashing through the wall." Jax informed Clay as he tried to be civil, but it seemed Clay had a different intention when he joined his stepson.

"I don't give a shit about that, I give a shit about you undermining every god dam play I make."

"Things I call out are for the good of the club." Jax said defensively.

"Bullshit it's about you and me." Jax stared at Clay for a moment. He used to look up to him, but now as he looked into the eyes of the man that murdered a fellow son's wife, Jax could feel nothing but disgust.

"Maybe." Jax shrugged. "Guess I've gotta get right with you, what you did."

"Yeah you have."

"Then tell me how. You tried to kill a brother behind the club's back, but instead you fucked up and your trigger boy killed his old lady. You tell me how I'm meant to get right with that?"

"You're going to have to figure that out yourself, but I'd do it quick because if you mention this shit again I'll kill ya." Jax scoffed, but as he looked at Clay he realised this wasn't an empty threat.

Clay walked away from Jax, leaving him alone to think about what he had just said. As Clay headed round the corner he walked straight into Nicole. He shot a look back at Jax before returning his eyes to her, wondering how much if any, she had heard of his conversation to Jax

"What's going on?" Nicole nodded her head in the direction of Jax, who was doing his best to down the bottle of whisky in one.

"Nothing Princess. He's just got one on him, best to leave him." Clay replied trying to sound casual.

"But...I."

"Come on, come and have a drink with your old Uncle." Clay took her by the arm and dragged her with him.

"No." Nicole argued as she tried to struggle out of his hold.

"Nicole just drop it. I really can't deal with another fucking Teller tanturm right now." He shouted. Nicole stopped struggling against his hold, she was shocked by his tone, but she was hurt by his words.

"What did you just say to me."

"What's going on?" Jax had seen Clay grab Nicole, but when he heard him raise his voice to her that was enough and he went running over to the pair.

"Nothing." Clay answered immediately dropping his hand from Nicole. Nicole and Jax watched as Clay stormed away from them.

"Okay Jay, truth time what the hell is going on between you two?"

#####################

"Right I'm off to work, you still want a lift?" Nicole shouted from the living room as she gathered up the rest of her belongings.

"Yeah I'll just get my jacket."

"Okay I'll be in the car."

"I need to stop at the store first." Nicole told Gemma as she slid into the passenger side of the Mustang.

"That's fine. Everything okay Darlin, you've been quiet the last couple of days. That ex of yours isn't hassling you, is he?"

"No haven't heard a thing from him since I left."

"So what's the problem?"

"There isn't one. I've just been a little tired lately that's all." Nicole smiled falsely at Gemma. The truth was she wasn't okay her and Jax still hadn't talked about what had happened on the charity run and it was really pissing her off.

Nicole grabbed her bags off the counter. She decided to pick up some treats for the guys, she knew they had a busy day ahead of them at the garage so she thought a selection of candy would make them happier or at least give them a sugar high, either was good in her books.

As she walked out the store she bumped into something solid, making her lose balance and drop her shopping.

"Sorry Mam let me help you with that." The man who she had bumped into was now on his hands and knees picking up her shopping, and placing them back into her bags. Feeling guilty Nicole dropped to her knees and started helping him. "Sweet tooth?" He questioned as he placed a third packet of red vines into her bags.

"Yes, but these aren't all for me."

"I'll believe you." He joked.

"Seriously, there not." She watched as the man picked up a big bar of wholenut chocolate. He eyed her suspiciously. "Okay maybe that's for me." She admitted as they both stood to their feet. "It's my favourite." She told him as she accepted the chocolate from him.

"Mine to. Again sorry Mam." The man smiled at her apologetically.

"Seriously its okay, thanks for helping."

"It's the least I can do." As he continued to stare at her, Nicole could feel herself blushing slightly. "Sorry I'm staring, it's just you just have a beautiful smile."

Nicole looked down at her feet laughing nervously as she tucked a piece of her long dark hair behind her ear. "Um... thank you."

"Sorry, now I'm embarrassing you?"

"Its okay. Well I... um better get going, thanks for helping me." Nicole went to head back her car when the man called out to her.

"Maybe I'll see you around some time."

Nicole looked over her shoulder at him. "Maybe." She smiled before getting back into her car.

As she settled herself she noticed the change in Gemma's mood. "Aunt Gemma you.."

"What did he want?" Gemma asked sternly, as she continued to stare ahead.

"Who?"

"Weston."

"Wait, that man was Weston?" Nicole pointed to the man she had just been talking, no the man she had just been flirting with.

"Yeah."

"I didn't know."

"Stay away from him." Gemma turned to look at Nicole "Please stay away from him, promise me."

"Okay, I will I promise."

###############################

They arrived at Jax's house, and headed straight into the kitchen where Tara was tidying up from breakfast.

"Morning."

"Morning sweetheart."

"Morning T." Gemma and Nicole greeted as they took a seat at the kitchen table.

"Hey Nic haven't seen you since the rap party. So how did things go between you and Juice?" Tara asked handing them both a cup of coffee.

"What's this?"

"Nothing." Nicole replied to Gemma as she shot a look of warning to Tara silently telling her to stop. Tara either didn't pick up on this or she didn't care because she continued to fill Gemma in.

"Juice is hot on her and I think she is hot on him." Tara explained.

"Is this true?" Gemma asked Nicole who was now turning slightly pink.

"He's sweet but that's it."

"He loooooves you and you looooove him." Tara sang sweetly making them all laugh. Nicole playfully slapped Tara's arm hoping it would stop her but instead Tara blew kisses at her.

"What's so funny?" Nicole, Tara and Gemma turned their attention onto Jax who had entered the room.

"Nothing." Nicole quickly answered raising her voice above the giggles.

"Juice likes Nicole and we think she may like him." Nicole's jaw dropped at Gemma's words. But her Aunty didn't seem to care she just shrugged her shoulders and continued to drink her coffee.

"You serious?" Jax looked at Nicole, he didn't seem to see the funny side of this conversation.

"That's it I'm outta here." Nicole grabbed her bag and headed for the door. "I'll speak to you later." She added as she looked back at Jax. She let her eyes linger on him longer than normal, silently letting him know that she hadn't forgot about their little conversation they had yet to have.

"Yeah." Jax replied knowing exactly what she wanted to talk about.

###############################

After leaving his house, Jax made his way to the local Police Station, hoping the ride would help clear his head. As well as having to keep Clay and Tig's little secret from Opie and the rest of the club he now had to keep it from Nicole which was not going to be easy. When she wanted something or wanted to know something she was like a terrier never letting go, and Jax always gave into her in the end, always had. So he knew that eventually he would spill his secret and end up hating himself for doing it.

Making his way towards Hale's office Jax bumped into Zobelle, who was just leaving Hale's office. The two men gave each other a passing glare, Jax making sure his eyes scanned every inch of Zobelle, before looking away and walking into Hale's office, slamming the door shut behind him.

"So you really are working with him you soon of a bi..." Jax snapped before Hale cut him off.

"I am not working with him." Hale blurted as he tried to defend himself from Jax's accusation.

"Bullshit. The other day I gave you Darby and you gave him a pass. Which left him free to go and beat on Nicole."

"Hey I didn't give him a pass. And what do you mean about Nicole?"

"That's not important what is, is what's happening here. Don't you get it your so hell bent on trying to burn the club that you keep getting into bed with the devil. Happened with Stahl and its happening with Zobelle. People are going to get hurt like Opie and Donna." Hale stood to his feet, he wasn't about to let Jax talk to him like that in his own office.

"That was not on me."

Jax wanted to agree of course Donna's murder wasn't on him but at the same time he was completely innocent. He knew Stahl was setting Opie up to look like a rat and he did nothing even though he knew Clay would react badly.

"Jax, I swear I'm not on anybody's payroll and that includes Zobelle." Hale told him.

Jax nodded, even though he didn't fully believe him. After he watched Jax leave Hale sat back down behind his desk as his eyes wondered back onto the DVDs that Zobelle had given him. He played the first disc, which was video footage of him accepting an envelope from Darby. Hale knew that if anyone watched this video it would look like he was taking a bribe. He played the second disc. This one showed Opie clear as day blowing up Darby's meth lab.

"Shit." Hale said to himself before closing his laptop.

############################

Clay, Opie and Tig were at Floyd's barber shop talking with Unser. "So you think Hale is in bed with Zobelle?" Clay questioned the ageing Chief.

"No, not a chance Hale is straight." Unser replied with great certainty.

"We gave him Darby and he..."

"I don't know what happened there but trust me he is not working for Zobelle. Don't you think your just being a bit paranoid?" Unser asked as he cut Clay off.

"Better safe than stupid." Clay mused.

"Talking of stupid." Clay and Tig looked over to Opie who was staring out of Floyd's window. They saw Weston and a couple of his White hate crew stalking across the street.

Clay and Tig follow Opie as he led the way out of Floyd's. Clay hung back as Tig and Opie continued making their way towards Weston and his men.

Jax's was speeding down main street when he saw Opie and Tig making their way across the street. Stopping his bike he saw Weston and a couple of his guys doing the same. Jax continued down the rest of the street, placing his bike in Tig and Opie's path. Cutting off the engine Jax climed off his bike.

"What they hell are you doing?"

"Use your head Ope street fight ain't the answer." Jax was now standing in front of Opie. It took a moment, but Opie nodded in agreement, he turned to Tig who looked like he to had reconsidered. The three men headed back towards Clay, only stopping when they heard Weston speak up.

"How's the pornstar?" Weston shouted in reference to Lyla. Opie turned around quickly as he went to lunge himself at Weston, but Jax stopped him by placing his hand on his chest.

"He's just trying to get a rise out of you, don't do it man." Opie once again gave in and turned away. Tig and Jax following him.

"Bumped into a fine looking lady this morning, beautiful smile, smoking body. You might know her think she goes by the name of Nicole." This comment got the full attention of Jax. "I have to say she smelt like heaven, and her skin was so soft. The things I could do to her." Jax could feel his temper flaring as he took another step toward Weston. "I could make her screa..." Weston didn't get to finish his sentence.

Jax moved so quickly, Weston barley knew what him. Jax didn't give Weston a chance to recover before he landed another blow to his face. Tig and Opie stepped forward and took on the other two guys. Punches were being thrown everywhere, as it turned into a full on street brawl.

Unser joined Clay outside Floyd's shop where he watched the scene unravelling in front of him.

"I'm gonna have to call this in." Unser informed Clay as he flinched at some of the painful puches that were being thrown between the two clubs.

"Hang on just a bit longer." Clay asked, as he lit his cigar.

############################

After Unser had locked up the men involved in the street brawl he went into Hale's office closing the door behind "Can I ask you something David?"

"Sure." Hale motioned to the seat in front of his desk. Unser took the seat as Hale sat back in his chair behind the desk.

"Are you involved with Zobelle?" Unser asked bluntly.

"This come from your MC buddies?"

"Doesn't matter where it came from, is it true?"

"You hypocrite." Hale bit out, as he grew annoyed with Unser's allegations.

"I know what I am, and that's the reason I chose you as my second. I knew that you were nothing like me and that you wouldn't allow yourself to get into my situation, but if you're working with..."

"I'm not." Hale replied firmly.

"Good. Now I have to tell you something, but you must understand that what I'm about to tell you doesn't leave this room." Hale nodded in agreement.

"Gemma was never in a car accident she was attacked. She was taken to an abandoned warehouse where she was tied and gagged. The three men that attacked her, raped her, all of them. It was done on Zobelle's orders."

"Why didn't..."

"Gemma didn't want anyone to know, didn't want it to twist up the club. She begged me, so I faked the car accident." They sat in silence, Hale trying to digest what he's just heard.

"Jax, none of them know?"

"No."

"And your sure it was Zobelle?"

"No proof, but yeah i'm sure. I just wanted you to know what kind of man Zobelle is so you can make up your own mind about what's right." Unser stood up and left Hale's office.

######################

Hale headed to the cells to release the guys. He unlocked Weston's cell first. "If this happens again you will all do 30 for public disturbance." Hales warned.

"Yes Sir." Weston responded as he walked from his cell, his men following behind him. Hale waited till Weston and his men where a clear distance before he unlocked Clay's cell.

The guys exited the cell. Jax was last to leave and as he passed by Hale, he stopped him. Hale handed Jax the DVD of Opie.

"What's this?" Jax asked looking down and the brown paper bag Hale had handed him.

"Just watch it." Jax took it and left. "Hey." Hale caught up with Jax. "I'm not Unser okay I'm not on anyone's payroll." Hales stated.

Jax nodded. "Okay."

################################

The sons were gathered in the Church seated in their usual seats as Clay started the meeting. "I've just received a call. Auto got jumped this morning, it was Zobelles guys." Clay paused as he listened to grumbles that erupted around the table.

"We can't take this lying down, not any more, we have an obligation to this club, to this town to crush this threat. Retaliation must be harsh and immediate, that's what we do what we've always done." Clay looked around the whole table until his eyes finally found Jax.

"I agree with everything that you're saying, we underestimated Zobelle but if we retaliate now were doing it half blind. These guys aren't gangsters their smart and connected both sides of the law. They wanted us to blow up Darby's lab." Jax threw the Dvd Hale had given him, in Clay's direction. "And that's Opie doing it, face plain as day." He took another drag from his cigarette be continuing. "Auto getting jumped, that's a bait Zobelle knew we would want to take, he wants us to retaliate. I love Auto I want to give him his eye but not at the expense of my club, we have to wait."

"Okay." Clay answered tiredly. "Lets take a vote then, immediate retaliation... Yay." Clay started off the vote.

"Yay." Tig gave his answer without hesitating.

"NO, sorry doesn't feel right." Chibs answered, giving a respectful nod to his VP.

"Yeah." Clay smiled at Opies vote. But for Jax hearing him side with Clay was another blow to their already faltering friendship.

"No." Piney bellowed as he scowled at Opie. He to was struggling with the fact that Opie had sided with Clay instead of Jax.

"Yay." Juice kept his eyes on the table, he knew Jax would not agree with his vote. And the eyes he could feel boring into the side of his head told him that his gut feeling was right.

Jax didn't know why but he thought Juice would back him, be on his side but he wasn't. And now all his hopes were pinned on Bobby.

"4-2 Bobby what's your vote?" Clay asked. Bobby took a second to reflect on the points he had heard before giving his vote.

"Nay." He looked directly to Clay as he gave his vote, and was met with the stunned look that he had accepted.

"Nay, 4-4 no majority we wait on retaliation." Jax told his step farther. Clay hit the gravel signalling the end of the meeting.

#######################

"Do me a favour bring that car in... Nicole...hey."

"What...oh sorry." Nicole placed her attention back onto Carl and away from the guys who were slowly filtering from the clubhouse. "I'm just gonna..."

"Before you go and see Jax could you please bring that car into the garage for me."

"As its you, sure." Nicole smiled sweetly taking the keys he was holding out for her. Nicole was about to jump into the car when she heard Chibs call over to her.

"Hey beautiful."

"Hey, everything okay?" Nicole asked as she stepped away from the car and closer to Chibs.

"Not really. Tough vote, think you might be needed."

"Shit. Do me a favour take this car into the garage?" Nicole handed Chibs the keys before she jogged over to the clubhouse.

Chibs spared one last look at Nicole before he climbed into the car. As he started the engine, he heard a ticking _"SHIT."_ He thought to himself as he dove from the car. He started running but he didn't get very far before the car exploded. The force from the blast sent Chibs flying knocking him to the floor.

Nicole didn't get a chance to look back as she to was thrown to the ground. Everybody who was gathered outside watched as the flames erupted. It took a minute or two for people to register what had just happened but as soon as they got feeling back into their legs they quickly moved towards the chaos.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Carl was first to arrive at the wreckage. He frantically scanned the wreckage for Nicole, unbeknown to him that she had swapped places with Chibs. He was oblivious to this fact until he stumbled upon Chibs spread out on the floor, blood pooling around him as he lay motionless on the floor.

Nicole slowly started to come around. She tried to push herself up but she was overwhelmed with pain shooting through out her entire body. She tried as best she could to ignore it, she needed to get to Chibs.

She managed to push herself onto her knees but as she tried to straighten herself onto her feet she felt herself wavier and before she knew it she was heading back towards the floor. She anticipated the pain she would feel when she hit the ground but the pain never came instead she fell into the safe embrace of her cousins arms.

"Chibs... chi.." Nicole stuttered drowsily.

"Its okay, he's being looked after. Where are you hurt?"

"All...all..." Jax was worried, she was making no sense.

"It's Okay, just try not to speak okay." Jax sat down on the floor resting Nicole against him. He carefully removed his cut and unzipped his hooded jacket which he carefully wrapped around her.

"Is she Okay?" Jax looked up at Juice who had just returned from Chibs.

"Yeah, I think so. Hows Chibs?"

"Not good."

"It's my...my fault..." Nicole mumbled, as silent tears fell.

######################

Jax stood talking with Hale as he kept a watchful eye on Nicole who was sitting on the back of the ambulance, paramedics fussing around her as she tried to push them away. She never was one for people fussing around her even if they were trying to help.

"This was Zobelle." Hale stated to Jax.

"Yeah." Jax turned his head so he could take a look at Hale, who was also looking over at Nicole.

"We have to find something on this guy." Hale responded in desperation. He didn't want Zobelle to hurt Nicole like he had Gemma.

"He doesn't make mistakes. I managed to push back retaliation for Auto but after this... There's no way, Clay will go head on at Zobelle and I've got a feeling that we will be walking right into a trap."

"Then don't fall for it."

"Not that easy. Someone hurts us like this we retaliate, have to." Jax said with a simple shrug of his shoulders.

"And that's it."

"Maybe not. If I can get to Zobelle first, maybe I can protect the club."

"And what happens when you find him?"

"You tell me."

"Are you asking me to help Samcro?"

"No I'm asking you to help Nic, that was nearly her in that blast. Plus we both know he has something on you, so think of it as self serving favour." Hale looked away from Nicole and moved his body to face Jax.

"If I do this you have to promise me that you'll bring him to me... alive."

Jax hesitated for a moment trying to settle his range, because right now all he wanted to do was kill Zobelle but he couldn't he had to be smart about this. "Al'right."

"I'll get Zobelle's address."

"Get Weston's info to, if their a dead end I'll be happy to rattle Darby." For the first time that night a smile spread across Jax's face. He walked over to the ambulance where Nicole was, leaving a Hale a little worried by his last comment.

"Why aren't you at the Hospital?" Jax asked as he pushed pass the paramedics to get closer to her.

"She wont go...Maybe you can talk some sense into her." Tara said taking a stand by Jax's side.

"She okay?" Jax asked Tara.

"I'm fine." Nicole butted in.

"She really needs to go to the Hospital." Tara replied, ignoring Nicole's pleas.

"Right that's it you're going to the Hospital and don't even think about arguing with me." Jax ordered as if he was talking to a child.

Nicole wanted to object but she really didn't have the energy to fight him. Jax climbed into the back of the ambulance with Nicole. He told Tara to follow behind.

"Jax has gone to the hospital he said for us to follow." Tara informed Gemma who was sitting alone on the picnic bench outside the Clubhouse.

"Okay we'll take my car." The two started walking towards Gemma's car.

"This explosion, you think it was the same people who attacked you? Gemma stopped in her tracks turning to Tara.

"And if it was?"

"Maybe if you told someone about what happ..."

"This is not on me." Gemma gave her a threatening gaze before getting into her car. Tara following her timidly.

##############

When they arrived at the Hospital Jax was making sure Nicole was settled, when she got a visitor.

"Hey."

"Hey Carl, what are you doing here?" Nicole asked. Jax's eyes flitted between the two of them, his gaze focussing more on Carl.

"I came to check you were okay."

A silence fell upon the room. Nicole looked at Jax as she subtlety tilted her head in the direction of the door. Taking the hint Jax excused himself from the room leaving the pair to talk. As he headed to the elevator he bumped into Gemma and Tara.

"You okay Mom?" Jax asked noticing the pissed off scowl spread across her face.

"What room is she in?" Gemma asked ignoring her son's question.

"Room 213." Gemma went to walk pass him, but Jax stopped her. "She's got a visitor so give her a sec okay." Gemma agreeed and went to check on how Chibs was.

"Everything okay?" Jax asked pulling Tara to one side.

"Somebody just blew up your friend with a car bomb so no I would say everything is far from okay."

"We don't know what happened."

Tara scoffed. "Yes we do know, you saw it I saw it. The only thing we don't know is who. I mean who would do such a thing."

"I'm not sure." He lied, he knew this was Zobelle but he didn't want to frighten her.

"Are you in danger?" She took in the unsettling look on his face "Am...am I in danger." Jax looked awkwardly to the floor. "Oh god." Panic started to set in. She ran her fingers through her thick dark Brown hair as she took a couple of deep breaths.

"Nothing is going to happen to you." He promised as he placed his hand softly on her face.

"I'm in the hospital about to visit your cousin who was nearly blown up, don't tell me everything is okay." She spat as she pushed his hand away from her.

"I know your worried but..."

"Just go."

"What."

"You need to leave right? Go take care of business." Tara stormed away from him.

#########################

Jax arrived at the Clubhouse. The mood in Church was subdued, everybody, although they may not admit it, were a little shaken by the nights events.

Clay lit his cigar before starting the meeting. "Unser's getting Zobelle's home address."

"Do you really think Zobelle is going to be sitting around waiting for us to swing buy?"

"Why should he hide, asshole probably thinks he protected on every level." Clay spat back in answer to Bobby's comment.

"He is." Juice commented.

"So what's the plan? He's probably riding four deep with Weston and Darby's guys." Jax assumed.

"I don't give a SHIT. Zobelle tried to kill two of us in the last twelve hours. One of them being my family, my niece. We don't wait any longer we finish this now." Clay barked. Wiping his hand over his face he continued. "Do I need to take a vote?" No one objected. After Clay hit the gravel everybody filtered out, heading straight to the bar.

"Hey Jax." Jax turned around to find an anxious Juice.

"Yeah."

"Is Nicole okay?" Jax nodded his head, he was too tired to reply. "I was thinking of going to see her. I mean if that's okay." Juice rubbed his hand over his Mohawk.

"Maybe in the morning let her rest, yeah."

"Okay I'll go in the morning. Thanks Jax." Jax patted him on the back before he left the clubhouse.

#########################

The next day as promised Carl returned to visit Nicole, bringing with him rather over the top bouquet.

"There lovely thank you." Nicole said as she took the flowers from him and placed them on her bedside table "You really shouldn't have." She took in their scent, they smelt as beautiful as they looked.

"I wanted to." He took a seat at the end of her bed. "How are you feeling today?"

"A lot better. I want to go home but Tara is insisting that I stay in for another day." She pulled a face at the thought of staying in hospital, she hated hospitals.

"Well she knows best."

"That's what they tell me."

"How's Chibs?"

"I'm not sure I was thinking of going to see him if I can."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"No its okay you don't have to."

"Look I wouldn't offer if I didn't want to."

"Only if your sure."

"For the last time yes." He smiled. He placed his hand out offering it to her for support.

Taking his hand she pushed herself out the bed. As she got to her feet she felt a little woozy and she stumbled into Carl's arms. She looked up at his worried face and started to laugh, when he realised she's was okay he laughed with her.

Juice nervously clutched the box of chocolates he was holding while he waited for the elevator to reach his desired floor. As the doors slid open his heart skips a beat, but his excitement soon turned to sadness when he saw Carl holding Nicole in his arms. He angrily turned back on himself, before they saw him. He threw the chocolates in the bin as he headed back to the elevator.

##########################

Jax was just about to head to the hospital when he got a phone call from Hale. "I've got Zobelle's Info but nobody was home. I'm still waiting for Weston's details."

"Okay lets go and see Darby." Jax suggested.

Jax and Hale arrived at Darby's house. They saw him packing his belongings into his truck. "Where are you heading?" Hale questioned causing Darby to turn around in surprise.

"What do you care and what's he doing with you?" Darby's eyes were fixed on Jax. "Are you on their payroll now to?" Darby mocked.

"Just answer the question." Jax snapped back in reply.

Darby paused for a second. "I'm going to see my Mom."

"Your Mom died last month." Hale reminded him.

"Enough shit... where's Zobelle?" Jax cut in, growing tired of the bullshit.

"I don't have to answer to you." He took a threatening step closer to Jax. Hale placed his hand on Jax's chest, stopping him from squaring up to Darby. Hale threw Jax a look warning him to keep his cool.

"No you don't but you do have to answer to me. And If you don't co-operate then a little matter of an assault charge might come to light."

"What?" Darby eyes went to Hale for the first time. To say he was stunned by Hale's threat was an understatement, especially considering his current state. "Me on an assault charge, have you seen this?" Darby pointed to the bruises that rested on his face.

"Yeah well there's plenty more where that came from if you don't answer Hale's questions." Jax added smugly. Looking at Darby's face he was very pleased with his handy work.

"Fine what do you want to know, because if it's about that blast last night Nords knew nothing about it. Unlike Samcro we don't blow shit up in our own town." He threw a scornful to Jax.

"You expect me to believe that. You're running from something. Didn't turn up to work today and now you're packing up your things." Hale quizzed.

"Look I had a heads up that something was going down but that's it no details. If you can't find Zobelle you could try his daughter, she's always hanging around Weston or the shop."

"What does she look like?" Hale asked.

"Blonde, pretty, great rack. Can I go now?"

"Sure." Jax and Hale headed back to their vehicles before heading over to Zobelles shop.

########################

Hale strolled casually into Zobelle's cigar shop and it seemed Darby was right, because Zobelle's daughter was there just like he had said.

"Had an accident?" Hale asked gaining her attention.

"Yeah." She responds as she brushed the last remaining fragments of glass into the dustpan, before getting to her feet.

"You must be Ethan Zobelle's daughter?" Hale inquired making his way towards her.

"Polly." She answered smiling sweetly at him.

"I'm the Deputy Sheriff."

"I know."

"I'm looking for your Dad."

"Haven't seen him." She lied.

"Why don't you give him a call it's important that I speak with him."

"I'm not his keeper." She relied with a snotty attitude.

"He's wanted for questioning and if you're lying to me then it means that you're interfering in a police investigation."

She laughed. "What do I look like, one of your inbred natives. Charge me or get out." Hale pulled his leather glove onto his one hand and picked up a piece of glass from the dustpan that was now resting on the counter.

"I slice open my arm and I charge you with aggravated assault on a police officer. My old man's a judge so you'll go away for 3 years no questions asked." He threatened.

Her body language changed from cocky to intimidated, and her face paled as she watched Hale pull up the sleeve of his shirt.

"There's a rally at the Christian Centre in Morada." Polly blurted out.

"The league?"

"No Weston's crowd, prison muscle Daddy's giving a speech." Hale put down the piece of glass and grabbed her arm.

"I told you the truth." Polly shouted in her defence as she tried to struggle free.

"Well I need this to stay between you and me for now." He marched her out of the shop. As she passed Jax she stared at him until she got placed into the Police car. Once she was safely locked inside the car Hale went over to relay what Polly had told him.

"Can you handle it?" Jax asked after Hale filled him in.

"Its just out of our jurisdiction but I'll call the Sheriffs and let them know."

##########################

Back at the clubhouse everybody was discussing Zobelle and how they were going to deal with him. "Checked his house this morning and the shop still nothing, Zobelle knows were looking for him." Tig stated as he took a seat next to Clay.

"Asshole has to surface sometime." Opie added.

"We wont be able to do shit. Feds are on their way over to deal with this bomb business. Which means..."

"Which means that we are going to be knee deep in suits by tomorrow." Bobby added finishing Clay's sentence.

"I think we've got something." Juice shouted as he made his way into the bar carrying Zobelle's laptop, which they had stolen from his house during their search. "I found an appointment in his calendar for tonight. He tagged it easy MC."

"Morada Christian Centre."Clay said with a smile on his face. Finally they had something.

######################

Jax arrived at the clubhouse just in time to see the rest of the guys piling into the back of the clubs Black SUV.

"Hey... Hey Bobby what's happening?" Jax called across the parking lot.

"Think we might have found Zobelle at the Christian Centre in Morada." Bobby yelled back before he climbed into the back of the van.

"Shit"

###################

When he arrived at the Christian Centre Jax called Hale to see if he could call of the Sherifs but Hale told him it was to late, things were already in motion. Dismounting his bike Jax went over to join the rest of the guys, who were arming themselves.

"So what have we got?" Clay asked Tig and Opie, who had just checked out the outside of the building.

"We've got a couple of buses upfront, a few cars in the lot and Zobelle's Mercedes. And there's a couple of guys upfront." Opie informed them.

"There's a side door, unwatched should be easy." Tig told them.

"Good we go in and let them make the first move." Clay ordered.

"It's a membership rally, it's going to be packed with AB." All eyes were now on Jax who had finally broken his silence.

"How do you know that?" Tig quired.

"Hale, he grilled Zobelle's daughter. He's sending Sheriffs."

"We've got cops on the way?" Happy spoke, not liking the sound of that piece of information.

"Yeah."

"Well we better hurry then." Clay told him.

"Clay we do this we all get arrested." Clay ignored him and continued handing out the Ak's and Shotguns.

Clay sent Juice and Happy round to the side door while the rest of them headed to main entrance, where they took out the two guys guarding the door. Clay called Happy and informed him that their end was clear Happy did the same and on the count of three they burst into the room. As they looked around they were all shocked to see women and children in the room. They quickly came to the conclusion that they had been set up.

Zobelle nodded at Weston who was standing behind the podium on stage. Noting Zobelle's signal Weston grabbed his gun and fired two rounds secretly from behind the podium.

All the women and children started screaming as the scrambled towards the exits. Clay raised his gun and headed for Zobelle. Realising what his step father was about to do, Jax ran in front of him blocking his aim on Zobelle. He forced Clay to lower his gun.

"Cameras." Jax nooded his head towards the ceiling. Clay looked up at the ceiling before returning his gaze to Jax. Once he was sure Clay wasn't going to anything stupid he stepped away. They both looked over to Zobelle who was taking advantage of the commotion and was trying to sneak away.

"I've got him." Opie shouted over the chaos, as he headed after Zobelle.

"We need to get out of here NOW." Bobby shouted as he heard the distance noise of sirens approaching.

As they ran outside they were met by armed police. They all dropped their weapons before raising their hands in surrender. Jax just stared at Clay, his temper raging.

Zobelle finally managed to shake of Opie's tail so he could escape. Loosing sight of Zobelle Opie headed back to his brothers. Upon his return he witnessed his brothers getting handcuffed and placed into the Sheriffs riot van.

_"Shit" _Opie mused to himself, wondering how the hell were they going to get out of this one.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"Their jamming us. Severn figure bail, no court date it's bullshit." Gemma responded, angrily taking a seat next to Tara.

"Apparently they have security tapes of women and children running for their lives" The lawyer Rosen, informed her.

"It's shit, they were set up by that son of bitch Zobelle, we all know it." Nicole added while she paced back and forth behind Rosen.

"They have no protection inside." Gemma blurted out. The three women looked at one another, they all knew what that meant, their guys were at risk.

"What about a bondsman?" Tara asked.

"$500,000 a head at 10% you're looking at 300k to get them all out."

"I can post the house." Gemma suggested.

"My dads too." Tara added, gaining herself an appreciative smile from Gemma.

"Okay well that would be enough for Clay maybe Jax."

Nicole desperately wanted to offer the money she had stashed away, it would probably be enough to get all the guys out, but she knew it would drag up way to many questions. Questions she didn't want to answer.

"No. They wont leave the rest behind." Nicole spoke firmly.

"I'm sorry I can't give you better news." Rosen spoke looking at back at Nicole. And he was just saying that, he truly was sorry. He's been the club's lawyer for many years and knew what a close knit group Samcro and their family members were. So this is why he truly was sorry that he didn't have better news.

"It's okay." Nicole replied, offering a half hearted smile. Rosen resturned the gesture before turning back to Gemma.

"Clay needs you to call Leroy and deliver this message." He handed her a piece of paper which Gemma accepted.

After Rosen left Gemma got to her feet and grabbed her bag before heading to the door.

"Where are you going?" Tara and Nicole asked in unison.

"To sort out this mess."

#######################

Hale shows Agent Stahl into his office "You can use my office for now."

"Don't you have any interest into why I'm here?" She asked as she placed her belongings on his desk.

"Not really." Hale shrugged, heading for the door.

"Who do I brief?" Hale looked back at her blankly. He knew she was trying to goad him, she wanted him to ask what she was doing. Stahl knew she had him. "Ethan Zobelle and AJ Weston." She carefully placed a selection of photographs on the desk in front.

Hale's curiosity got the better of him and he stepped over to the desk to view the photographs she had spread out.

It seemed curiosity got the better of Nicole to. She had come to visit Hale, to see if he could do anything about getting the son's out jail or at least lower the bail fee. She was just about to walk into his office when she overheard a woman's voice mention Zobelle and Weston, so she decided to hang back and listen to what she had to say.

"What about them?"

"Cameron and Edmund Hayes true IRA." She pointed to the two men who were standing in the picture with Polly, Zobelles daughter. "That's the reason I'm here, same reason as Zobelle is. He wants their guns and his crew is pushing out the MC."

"What." Nicole muttered quietly to herself.

"So pick up Zobelle. And push him for Intel on the Irish."

"Can't, Zobelle is off limits." Hale rolled his eye, knowing things were going get messy if she was going to start messing around in Samcro's business again. Stahl picked up on this. "I have no interest in creating any collateral damage in town David, I think I have done enough." Stahl answered referring to Opie and his wife Donna.

"Zobelle is responsible for the car bombing at Teller/Morrow." Hale informed her.

Stahl was a little shocked by this piece of information. "Well looks like the retaliation backfired." She remarked, referring to the fact that all of Samcro were currently banged up.

"Jax tried to prevent that. We tried to scoop up Zobelle before Clay went in full charge."

"So the VP is working behind Clay's back." She mused.

"Jax has susp..." At this point Nicole decided to make her presence known. Even though unknowing to her she would have heard the secret Jax had been keeping from her.

Hale watched as Stahl's eyes left him and focused on the door. He turned around to see what had caught Hale's attention.

"Nicole, what are you doing here?" He asked as he went over to her.

"I was wondering if I could talk to you, but if your busy." Hale looked back at Stahl, who was still looking at Nicole.

"It's okay David I think were done here."

"Lets go outside." Hale ushered Nicole out of the room.

"Nice to meet you Nicole." Nicole walked back into the room and looked Stahl up and down. "It's nice to finally meet the Samcro Princess."

"Shame I can't say the same June." Nicole snapped. She knew this woman was the one responsible for setting Opie up as a rat, and causing nothing but shit for the club.

"Nic, come on." Hale once again ushered her out of his office. They head outside. "So what is it?"

"What do you think?" 

"Nic there's nothing I can do." Hale knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Your dad used to be a judge, can't you get him to release them or drop the bail money, something... anything?"

"If I could I would." He replies placing a comforting hand on her arm, which she shrugged it off.

"They were set up."

"No one forced the guns into their hands, no one forced them to barge into that room."

"Forget it, I was stupid for thinking a cop would have sympathy. You've always wanted them behind bars and now you have your wish, even though there is a worse threat still on our streets. But I'm guessing as he wears a shirt and tie he ain't as scary as a big mean biker, even though they done more good for this town than you shit for brains cops." Nicole storms over to her car, leaving a slightly shocked Hale standing alone in the parking lot.

###############################

"Rosen thinks the case is being tied up, it might be a while before we see a court room." Clay informed his men.

"No colour crew means we might not make it to trial." Happy expressed.

"Well this herd could do with a little thinning." Clay muttered under his breath but Bobby heard him.

"It's not his fault." Bobby said as he tilted his head in the direction of Jax.

"So what it's my fault?" Clay asked.

"No. We all voted, it's on all of us."

"Right. Well I'm working gonna work on getting us some friends."

####################

Later that day Clay tooka meet with Leroy's cousin about protection. He agreed to protect them but only if they did something for him in return.

"Okay what do you want?" Clay asked Russell.

"I need you to find a rat for me."

"Okay."

"And I need something else." Clay nodded his head telling him to contiune. "That bitch over there in protective custody. His names Dion he crossed us. We want you to set him up."

"How?"

"Dion likes buff brown boys, I see you have one." Clay turned to look at Juice who was talking to Jax.

"Yes we do and he's all yours." Clay answered with a smile on his face.

############################

Nicole arrived back at Teller Morrow, her mood had not improved in fact it had gotten worse. Heading to the workshop, she was greeted by Opie.

"Hey." Nicole responded with half hearted smile. "I've just heard from Clay."

"What did he say? Is he okay? Jax and..."

"Their all fine, he wanted me to tell you that they have protection so stop worrying. He wants me to..."

"What does he need?"

"I need to find a rat."

"Then what are you doing here why aren't you..." Nicole stopped mid sentence as Opie pointed towards the office. She turned on her heels and popped her head around the door.

"Hello." The little girl says.

"Hey Ellie. Hey Kenny, you two okay?" Nicole greeted them.

"Yes thank you." They replied in unison. Nicole stepped out of the office.

"I see your problem. Where's your Mom?"

"Busy. Can you look after them?"

"I can't sorry, but I'll give Neeta a ring I'm sure she will take them."

"Thanks Nic."

"No problem. Are you going to be okay handling this by yourself."

"I'll be fine."

##############################

Gemma walked into the church with Abel. The Church was pretty empty so she found the person she was looking for easily. She walked over to where he was seated. He turned to acknowledge her, when he heard her heels approaching. He smiled as her, a smile which she returned. They sat in silence as the listened to the choir. When the choir finished, the few peoplepeople who were in the church started to leave. One young girl came running towards Gemma with a big smile on her face.

"Hello sweetheart."

"Hello. Is he yours?" The young girl asked as she looked at Abel in the pram.

"No I'm Grandma"

"I'll meet you outside sweetheart." The young girl turned to her father. She does as she was told and left the church.

"Bye Mrs Morrow." 

"Bye Baby." Gemma watched the young girl leave. "She's beautiful. How's she doing?" Gemma asked referring to last year when the young girl was attacked and raped by a carnival worker. The MC helped catch the attacker and as a favour to her father they made sure that the man could never hurt anyone again.

"She's okay, therapy seems to be working. I heard about Clay I take it that's why your here?" 

"I didn't know who else to turn to."

"How much?"

"300 against 3 mill."

"Jesus Christ Gemma, I'd have to put my land up for that amount. If one of them splits I'd lose everything."

"Their not safe Elliot" She raised her voice in desperation.

"I'm sorry Gemma, I really am but I can't." He got up leaving Gemma sitting alone with her worries. He was her last hope all she could do know was pray for a miracle.

#########################

"I've sent Opie after the snitch." Clay said and everybody gathered around.

"Opie's doing it alone?"

"Well Jackson were kind of busy." Clay said sarcastically.

"Then tap another charter." Jax bit back.

"Why don't you get Hale to help."

"Al'right you two." Bobby interjected "What about the other guy?"

"He's over there in PC. He's got a thing for Brown boys."

"Ah Juice bait." Tig laughed.

"Yeah we've got to get Dion some where Russell's guys can get to him. Set it up. I'll tell our black friends that the wheels are in motion." Clay walked away, Jax following behind him.

"What now?" C

"Are you sure about using Juice?"

"What?" Clay turned to face Jax.

"This is safe right?"

"You serious?"

"Juice and Nic I think something is going on with them. I don't want him to get hurt for her sake, she doesn't need it."

"Well if Nicole was here she would tell him to do it. It's for the club she understands that, more than some people do."

################

Jax reluctantly set up the meet with Dion. The deal was for Juice to meet Dion in the infirmary.

"Hey beautiful." Tig said to Juice who quickly twigged on that something wasn't right.

"What is it?" Juice asked cautiously, as he looked around at his fellow brothers.

"We need you to take one for the club. You see the guy over there." Clya pointed to Dion. "He finds you very appealing."

"Are you serious?"

"Nothings going to happen, your just bait. Blacks will jump in before he bites." Jax tried reassuring him.

"Well we hope." Tig mocked.

"50/50 chance you end up with no dick up your ass." Everyone laughed, everyone that was apart from Juice.

"Look Juice you'll be fine I've set up a meet in the infirmary all you have to do is stall till Russell's guys get there." Jax tries again to reassure him.

"Okay but how do I get in there?"

Tig had already moved behind Juice. He punched him in his back, making Juice drop to his feet in pain.

"Guard." Happy shouted as Bobby and Tig helped Juice back to his feet.

"Jesus Christ I think you broke my rib." 

"I know." Tig replied with a smile on his face.

######################

Juice nervously tried to stall, but Dion who was being very persistent, he kept touching him and all Juice could do was pray they weren't going to be late.

"Can we take this to the bathroom?" Juice asked

"Sure." Dion led the way. As Juice walked in Dion pulled down his trousers.

"I'll just double check it's clear." Juice was delighted to see Russell's guys waiting at the door. He let them in as quickly as he could. Russell and his guys ran past Juice and took care of Dion.

######################

Juice walked back into the yard, a big smile on his face. "Well he's smiling." Clay said to Tig.

"Maybe he did take one up the ass." Tig laughed.

"Well that's one down now we just need Opie to come through and we have protection." Clay stated.

Juice was about 5 meters away from the guys, when he a couple of guys walked into his path. One of the guys pushed Juice sending him stumbling backwards. As he fell back Juice felt a strap pain in his lower back, he knew he had been stabbed, but beofre he could react he was stabbed again.

"Shit its going down." Jax yelled running towards Juice, the others followed.

By the time they got to Juice the group of men who had attacked him had disappeared into the crowd. Jax dropped to the floor observing Juice's injures, while the rest of them made a protective circle around them. As he applied pressure Juice's wounds, he threw Clay a filthy look. This is exactly what Jax didn't want to happen.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Nicole went to Gemma and Clay's house, hoping Gemma would be there, but she wasn't.

"Hey Neeta. Still no Gemma?"

"Sorry sweetie." Nicole glanced over to the two children sitting on the couch watching T.V.

"Thanks for looking after these two, you're doing me a huge favour."

"Not a problem, they've been good as gold." Nicole smiled weekly as she ran her fingers through her long dark hair.

"You look tired sweetie, why don't you go lie down. I can carry on watching the kids."

"Thank you, but you've already done enough, go home." At that point Gemma entered the room. "Hey where have you been? I've been trying to call you all day." Nicole said as she gave her a hug.

"Sorry sweetheart."

"Everything okay?"

"Not really." Gemma took a seat at the table Nicole joined her. She pulled a packet of smokes out of her bag, offering one to Gemma. "I went to see Elliot Oswald to ask for help."

"By the look on your face I take it, it didn't go to well."

"No." Gemma took a long drag on her cigarette.

"It's going to be okay Aunt Gemma. Their going to be okay." Nicole placed her hand on top of hers.

"I hope so." Tears welled in Gemma's eyes. Nicole got up from the table, she knew what she had to do.

"Where are you going?"

"There's something I have to do. I wont be long I promise."

########################

"Opie didn't get the snitch, the bitch got away." Clay announced as he took a seat on the prison cell bed.

"Is Opie okay?" Clay looked over to Jax.

"Yeah."

"And Juice how's he?"

"He'll live." Jax shook his head huffing at Clay's response. "If you have something to say then why don't you just say it." Clay got to his feet, and squared up to Jax.

"Fine. This is all on you Clay. Were here because of your half ass decisions. Making Juice Don..." Jax didn't get to finish his sentence as Clay sucker punched him.

Jax stumbled back, but recovered quickly and flew back at Clay, his fist heading straight for his jaw. Tig and Happy went to rush over, to try and stop the fight but Bobby stopped them.

"They need this."

Jax and Clay put everything they had behind their punches, each punch meant something. As they threw each other around the cell, the guys moved around them as they continued watching their President and VP take eachother down. Clay held his own giving the fact that Jax is a lot younger than him.

Even though they were growing tired neither one seemed willing to give up. But eventually that choice was taken out of their hands, when the guards came in and broke them up.

###############################

Nicole knocked on the door, taking in the beautiful surroundings while she waited for someone to answer.

"Hello." A young girl spoke as she opened the door.

"Hey sweetie, is your dad..." Nicole didn't have to finish her sentence because the man she was looking for appeared behind the young girl.

"Tristan honey why don't you go and finish your homework." The young girl smiled at Nicole before she disappeared back into the house. "Can I help you?"

"Hi. You might not remember me I'm Nicole Telle..."

"I remember. Your Gemma's niece right?" Nicole nodded. "You've grown up since the last time I saw you. I take it your here for Clay but as I told your Aunt today I can't help you."

"Please just give me two minutes that's all I'm asking for... please." Elliot saw the desperation in her eyes, instantly feeling sorry for her.

"Come in." Elliot led her into his office. Nicole took a seat as he offered her a drink, which she declined. Elliot walked behind his desk taking a seat.

"As I told Gemma I can't help you it's too much money."

"My family have helped you a lot over the years and now we need your help."

"I can't aff..." Nicole cut him off as she slammed the brown duffel bag onto his desk. Elliot looked at the bag before looking back at Nicole with curiosity.

"Open it." She instructed. Elliot leant over and unzipped the bag. As he looked inside he was shocked to see that it was full of money "There's about 240 thousand in there maybe more. I know it's not the full amount but I thought you could but the rest up."

"I... I don't.. Where did you get this money?"

"That doesn't matter. All that matters is that my family are in there with no protection. I don't know what I'd do..." She paused for a moment as she tried to compose herself. "I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to any of them. Please help me."

He didn't respond straight away, instead he just sat watching her. Elliot had known the Teller/Morrows for many years and one thing he had always noticed and in some ways admired, was that they were strong and always fought for one another if they needed it. But as he sat in front of Nicole, he didn't the strong willed girl he used to know instead he saw a fragile, scared little girl who was terrified for her family. She reminded him of his own daughter.

"Okay."

"You'll put the money up?"

"Yes, but you have to make sure they don't spilt or get into more trouble because I'll lose everything."

"I promise you. I'll make sure they act like angels." He made his way round to her, where she gave him a hug.

"Thank you so much. I just have one more favour to ask."

"What is it?"

"Please don't tell anyone that I gave you the money, nobody knows I have it."

"I'm not su..." Elliot looked at her and again felt himself feeling sorry for her. "Okay."

"Thank you Mr Oswald." Nicole showed herself out.

########################

Nicole walked into the kitchen of Clay and Gemma's house, where Tara, Opie and Gemma were standing. Nicole noticed that they all had some sort of alcoholic drink in their hand and giving the circumstances they seemed pretty happy.

Nicole guessed that Elliot must have called and told them the good news. "What's with the smiles?" Nicole asked pretending she didn't know anything.

"Elliot posted bail." Tara said with a beaming smile.

"I thought you said he wouldn't pay?" Nicole asked looking at Gemma as she placed her bag on the counter.

"He must have had a change of heart."

"Who cares lets just be grateful their coming home." Tara added, handing Nicole a beer.

"Yeah Juice already got hurt, who knows what could have happened if they had to stay in there any longer." Opie commented.

"What do you mean Juice got hurt?"

"Oh my god you don't know do you?" Nicole shook her head "Juice got stabbed." Tara told her.

"What...is he okay?" Nicole could feel her heart racing.

"He's okay." Opie reassured, pulling her against him.

###############################

A few hours later Tara, Gemma and Nicole headed over to Teller/Morrow. They watched expectedly as the black SUV pulled to in the car park. However their excitement was short lived when they saw Jax and Clay get out of the van.

They watched as they headed in separate directions. Neither one of them acknowledging the girls. Tara, Gemma and Nicole shared worried and confused looks as they took in the two men's injures. Tara went to chase after Jax but Gemma grabbed her arm.

"No. Give them time, lets go home." Tara and Nicole followed Gemma back to her car.

#############################

A few hours later Nicole excused herself, telling Gemma and Tara that she wanted to go and see if Juice was okay. Tara told her that they wouldn't let her in this time of night, but Nicole said she didn't care. However as Nicole drove away she didn't take the turning for , instead she took the turning that would take her to Teller/Morrow.

Nicole didn't have to look to hard to find Jax, she knew exactly where he would be. It was the place where they would hide whenever they were in trouble, which was quite a lot, but as they got older it became a place where they went to clear their heads. She made her way up the ladder to the roof top of the clubhouse, and there he was sitting in front of her a beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other.

"Hey."

"Hey." Nicole took a seat next to him. Neither one of them spoke for a few moments.

"So are we going to talk about it?" Jax didn't answer, he just took another swig of his beer "Jay I can't take it anymore I need to know what is going on between you and Clay."

"Trust me you don't." He huffed out.

"Yes I do. If it's causing this friction between you two then I need to know. Jay please."

"Fine, but you won't like it."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Nicole paced the floor beneath her. Jax's words spinning around in her head. She shook her head in denial, she couldn't believe it, didn't want to, didn't want to believe that her Uncle could do something like this.

Jax watched as his cousin seemed to be struggling with herself. The moment the words left his mouth he knew he shouldn't of told her, it was too much for her take, hell it was too much for sometimes.

"Nic..."

"Are you..um...I...are you sure?" She asked as her fingers laced around her necklace. Jax nodded his head. "Oh my god." Tears filled her eyes. Jax got up from his seat and walked over to her pulling her against him. He felt her shudder. He cocked her head up with his finger so he could look at her. He grazed his thumb over her cheek, wiping away her tears. "Who.. Who else knows?" She croaked out.

"Piney."

"And he's okay being round Clay?"

"What do you think? He wants me to deal with it, wants me to make it right." She saw the sadness lingering in his eyes a look she had seen a few times since coming back, but only now did she understand why.

"Aunt Gemma does she know?"

"I'm guessing." Nicole took a step back from Jax.

"How can she live with him? How can she live with the fact that he killed Donna?" She went back to pacing the floor. "I have to ask her wh..."

"No. You can't let on that you know about this." Jax cut her off as he grabbed her arm forcing her to focus on him.

"What, you want me to lie and just carry on playing happy families with them?" She shook her head "I can't, I can't do that Jay I just can't pretend that I don't know about this."

"You have to. I don't know what Clay will do if he finds out that you know." Nicole was taken back by the seriousness of his tone. "I don't want you to get hurt." Jax pleaded.

"What do you mean, you think...you think Clay... no, no Clay would never hurt me Jay."

Jax took a deep breath, as he turned away from her. He didn't want to tell her about Clay's threat but he was concerned for her safety. Clay didn't want his secret getting out and would do anything to make sure it stayed a secret, Jesus he had already threatened his life why not hers.

Nicole forced his attention back to her by grabbing his wrist, and pulling him back hard. She didn't need to say anything to him, her eyes did all the talking.

One look into her eyes he knew he had to tell her, he couldn't lie to them eyes.

"He threatened to kill me if I ever brought up this shit with Donna again."

"What? When?"

"On the charity run. That's why I didn't want you involved in this." He watched as her face went from sad to mad in seconds.

"I'm sorry but I am involved and I can't play happy families with him. Its bullshit! And if Clay wants to hurt you I say go for it because I would love to see how far he gets." Jax couldn't help but smile at her. "What?"

"You, I forgot what a fighter you are." He placed his arm around her and kissed her lightly on her forehead. "Okay, you can stay with me and Tara and we will deal with whatever shit comes our way, together."

"You and me as always."

"Yeah."

#############################

Jax and Nicole headed into the kitchen of his house. They were greeted by Tara who was sitting at the kitchen table. She looked pissed.

"Where have you been?" She snapped in Jax's direction.

"I had to deal with something." He said bluntly.

"I thought you went to see Juice." Tara was now looking at Nicole.

"I lied." Nicole answered honestly. Tara shook her head. "I'm going to give you two some privacy." Nicole said to Jax as she walked out of the kitchen.

"What's your problem?" Jax was annoyed by her attitude. Nicole didn't need her bullshit and neither did he. He waited for her to answer him but she didn't instead she tossed his Dad's manuscript onto the table. The manuscript was what his father had planned for the club, something that Jax wanted to follow through on.

"I finished it." Jax checked behind him to make sure that Nicole was out of ear shot before he took a seat at the table.

"What do you want me to say?"

"You keep saying that you want to change things, but you keep repeating old behaviour. You can't have it both ways Jax."

"Is there anything you loved so much you would do anything to protect it no matter what the cost?"

"Yeah a child."

"Well that's how I feel about this club. Since I was 5 all I wanted was a Harley and a cut. Change wont happen quick or without blood but it will happen it has to." Jax heard Abel cry, as he got up he looked back at Tara who looked disgusted with him.

As he walked into the nursery he saw Nicole cradling Abel in her arms. "Your a natural." Nicole threw him a smile over her shoulder.

"I don't know about that." He walked over to them. He let his thumb graze over his sons wispy golden hair. "Everything okay with you two?" Nicole asked as she cooed over the baby in her arms. She saw Jax shrug out of the corner of her eye. "If me staying here is going to be a problem.."

"It's fine your staying end of. Do you need help to pick up your stuff tomorrow?"

"Nah I should be okay. Thanks though."

###############################

The next morning Gemma tried talking to Clay about what had happened between him and Jax. "You get much sleep last night?" Gemma asked pouring herself a cup of coffee before joining Clay at the table.

"Not much. Nicole didn't come home last night." He told her as he lit his cigar.

"She was probably with Jax, quizzing him about what went down between the two of you." Their eyes locked with one another's, Gemma waited for an answer but Clay didn't say anything. Frustrated by his silence she continued hoping he would start talking. "Was it to do with Donna?"

"You were right." He sighed.

"About?"

"About the voice of his old man getting to him. Him changeling me, suppose it had to happen its in his DNA."

"And how does that play out?"

"Guess we'll find out." Clay grabbed his cut of the back of his chair and left.

#################################

"Morning. I hope your hungry. Now I wasn't sure what you liked so I made a bit of everything. We have pancakes, waffles, eggs scrambled and sunny side up and finally bacon and sausage." Nicole smiled at Tara, but noticed she didn't return the gesture, instead her attention seemed to be on the mess that Nicole had made.

"Wow this looks amazing Nic." Jax grabbed a plate and started piling it with food before taking a seat at the table, completely ignorant to the exchange going on between Tara and Nicole.

"Don't worry I'll clean up."

"I have to be on rounds." Tara grabbed an apple off the side and walked out slamming the door behind her. Nicole slumped into the chair next to Jax who was shovelling food into his mouth like he had never been fed before.

"What's her problem?" Nicole snapped before stealing a piece of bacon from his plate.

"Don't worry about her." He took a sip of his drink, washing down the food he was eating before he continued. "It's me she's mad with, not you. She'll get over it."

"Well she better because I will only put up with her shit for so long." Jax rolled his eyes at her, which earns him a slap.

"What was that for?" He asked rubbing his arm.

"Don't roll your eyes at me."

"Nic just leave her, she's trying her best to deal with all this."

"Deal with what?" She was getting more aggravated by the situation.

"Being part of this life, the club."

"What's to deal with?" Nicole huffed out as she got up from her seat and headed to over to the sink to start cleaning up.

"We've lived this life since we were kids, were used to it but Tara ain't. She left once I don't want her to leave again, so please Nic just go easy on her for me."

"Don't give me them puppy dog eyes Jay." She didn't need to look at him, she knew him to well. As Jax joined her by the sink, Nicole looked up at him and just like she expected he was giving her his best pleading eyes. "Fine I'll play nice." Jax smiled to himself, he knew she would cave.

"Thanks." He gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Jax grabbed his keys and went to leave for work but Nicole stopped him. "I've got something I need to tell you."

"What?" He pinched the bridge of his nose dreading what it might be.

"When you were in jail I went to go and see Hale and..."

"And what?"

"I heard him talking to that ATF bitch."

"Stahl." She nodded her head. "What did she say?"

"She's here investigating Zobelle and the Irish." He looked at her in confusion. "Irish are selling guns to Zobelle."

"You're shitting me." She shruggred at him, while Jax ran his fingers through his hair trying to figure out what to do.

############################

Jax burst into Hale's office, startling Hale "What did you tell Stahl?"

"Nothing."

"Bullshit. I know she's looking into Zobelle and the Irish."

"How do you know about..." He pauses for a second remembering Nicole had come to his office, she must have overheard him talking to Stahl. "Nicole." Jax just looked at him blankly. "Jax she's not looking into Samcro. She's just doing her job, she's looking for the supplier.

"I know were on the same side, but we both know that Zobelle and that ATF bitch are bad for Charming."

"I agree but you were Zobelle doesn't make mistakes, he's protected."

"Oh my god, ATF can't touch the league." Hale just looked at Jax. "Fuck." Jax ran his hand over his beard before leaving. This was bad news on so many levels.

###########################

Nicole looked in the office for Gemma, but she wasn't there. Not in the mood to go looking for her, Nicole walked inside placing her T/m work shirt onto the desk.

"Thought I saw you coming in here." Nicole turned her in the direction of the voice. She saw Carl standing in the doorway of the workshop.

"Hey."

"You coming to work?"

"I don't think I'm going to be working here for a while." She avoided his gaze.

"Why?" He asked as he walked further inside the office.

"There's a lot of shit going on right now and I need to focus on that."

"Everything okay?" He placed his hand on her shoulder, finally making her look at him again.

"Not really, but I can't talk about it"

"Well if you change your mind you know I'm here if you want to talk."

"Yeah I know, and I appreciate that." She placed her hand on top of his that was resting on her shoulder. She smiled half heartily at him, before saying goodbye.

Nicole made her way to the clubhouse, as she entered she noticed Bobby, Tig, Happy, Opie and Half Sack all gathered on the leather sofas, they looked deep in conversation.

"Hey what's up?" She asked Bobby as she walked over to them.

"Just filling Sack in on what he's missed." Nicole took a seat next to Happy her eyes locking with Tig's.

Tig noticed Nicole staring at him, at first he didn't think anything of it but as she continued looking at her he saw her eyes grow darker. He looked away, but he could feel her eyes burning into him. Looking back he was right she was still staring at him, for the life of him he couldn't figure out why. He was about to question her but she cut him off when she spoke.

"Well carry on, don't let me stop you." She instructed to Bobby as she finally removed her eyes from Tig.

"I was telling him that we need to take a look at this shit that's going on between Jax and Clay." Bobby said as he looked her, he probably shouldn't include her in this but it wasn't just club business, this was her family and she might be able to help.

"Yeah I heard they got into at county." Half Sack said.

"It was brutal." Happy stated. Nicole looked at him. She knew the reason why Clay and Jax had fought, but she was still shocked by the whole thing. And hearing their own brothers talk about it wasn't right.

"This shit's been brewing for months ever since Donna." Nicole eyes left Happy and landed on Opie.

"What you think this has something to do with Donna's death?" Opie didn't understand Bobby's comment.

"No this shit started way before that." Tig jumped in. His eyes met Nicole's who was subtly shaking her head at him. His brows furrowed at her action, he really didn't understand her attitude with, they had always gotten on.

"So what do you think their fighting about Tig? I mean you being Clay's right hand man an all." Nicole asked in an icy tone, and for the first time for Tig things were becoming clear, she knew.

"Jax is pushing for change." Opie answered saving Tig from having to answer her.

"Nah, that kind of beef is good for a club, it keeps us current. This is something much uglier. Has Jax said anything to you Nic?" Nicole realised that Bobby wasn't the only one looking at her, they all were including Tig who was eyeing her curiously. Sitting across from Tig, having him looking at her she wanted to blurt out the reason why Clay and Jax were butting heads, but she knew she couldn't instead she takes a deep breath and lied.

"No, hasn't said anything."

"I can talk to Jax." Opie offered.

"But you two have been butting heads lately." Opie looked to Nicole.

"He'll tell me, he knows I wanna help."

"Okay Tigger you deal with Clay." Bobby ordered. Tigs nodded in agreement.

"We need to find out what's going on and get this shit sorted, bring it to the tabl..."

"Hey." Nicole saw Jax entering and quickly cut Bobby off, not wanting her cousin to overhear any of their conversation.

"Hey." He realised that everybody was staring at him "What?"

"Just been downloading to prospect." Bobby explained. Nicole got up from her seat next to Happy and stands next to Jax, he winked at her before he turned back to the group.

"Chinese just called they want a sit down. I've got to head up to Cara Cara, Where's Clay?"

"I'm not sure." Bobby said.

"Well when you find him pass on the message about the Chinese."

"Sure thing."

"Oh and tell him that ATF knows about the Irish and their watching them."

"How do you know that?" Tig inquired.

"I overheard Hale and Stahl talking about it." Nicole said sharply.

"That ain't good." Happy remarked.

"No it ain't." Jax agreed. "Right I'm heading to Cara Cara."

"Why what's happened?" Opie asked.

"Break in or something."

"Mind if I come, would like to check on Lyla."

"Sure." Nicole pulled Jax aside.

"Can I come with you?"

"I'm not sure"

"Please." He looked down at her, instantly feeling guilty by the fear that he had now caused her to feel from revealing his secret.

"Okay."

"You sure that's wise?" Jax turned to face Tig who had slowly made his way over to them.

"Yeah I am, she stays with me. And if you don't like you know what you can do." Jax snapped. Opie was standing by Nicole's side, he ushered her and Jax out of the clubhouse before it all kicked off.

########################

They three of them arrived at Cara Cara. Opie went straight towards Lyla who was clearly upset by the events. He pulled her into a hug, his larger frame swallowing her smaller one.

Nicole watched them in a daze, the situation reminded her of him and Donna. He had always worshipped the ground she walked on and it was clear to everyone they were around. It made her sad to think that the man she thought of as a father had been responsible for taking that away from him. She came out of her daze when she felt a hand on her shoulder, she turned to see Jax, he looked worried.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay." She wrapped her arm around his waist. "Come on lets go find Luanne."

"What happened?" Jax asked as they reached a rather frantic Luanne.

"Somebody broke in. They stole our HD Camera and my laptop. Jax it has three rough cuts on it."

"What happened to the guard dog I gave you?"

"See for yourself." Jax and Nicole followed Luanne inside. She pointed in front of her. Nicole and Jax moved from behind her so they could get a look. The dog was lying on the ground by a door which had _Dead Bitch_ written on it in blood. The dogs blood.

"Oh my god Jay. Do you know who did this?" Nicole turned away from the image in front of her.

"I have a pretty good idea."

"I can't stay in here." Nicole left and went outside while Jax made a call to Bobby for reinforcements. When he finished his call he headed outside to Nicole who was once again staring at Lyla and Opie.

"I've called Bobby he's on his way, were going to pay a little visit to Georgie." Jax told her.

"Who's that girl with Opie?" She asked ignoring whatever Jax had just said.

"Lyla. She works here. I think she and Ope have something going on."

"Do you think he's happy?" Jax shrugged. "They look happy together."

"Yeah I guess they do. Look Nic are you dealing with everything?"

"Honestly I don't kn..." Nicole was going to say more but she Bobby pulled up in front of them.

"So was this Gerogie?" He asked as he got off his bike.

"Yeah."

"We need to deal with this asshole now." Opie spoke harshly as he joined them.

"Okay, lets go. Nic you should stay here."

"Can't I come with you?"

"No way it might get messy and I don't want you near that."

"That's sweet but how am I going to get home. I came on your bike remember."

"I'll take you." Luanne offered as she walked up behind Nicole.

"Great. I'll give you a call when were done."

"Be safe." Nicole told him.

"Promise."

################################

Nicole had asked Luanne to drop her at the hospital as she really wanted to see Juice. Finally locating his room she entered carrying a punnet of strawberries that she had got for him on the ride over.

"Nicole, hey." Juice welcomed her in excitement.

"Hey, how are you feeling?"

"Good considering."

"I got you these." She placeed the Strawberries on the side table next to his bed taking a couple with her as she took a seat in the available chair. "Although I'm not sure you deserve them." She stated before taking a big bite of one the Strawberries "I mean when I was in here I don't remember you visiting me." Although her tone was light-hearted, she meant what she said she remembered being pissed that he hadn't come to visit her.

"Well actually I did."

"No you didn't."

"I did, but you were a little busy." He avoided her gaze.

Nicole was confused by this until it suddenly dawned on her what he was on about. She knew he was referring to Carl, he had been her only visitor apart Sons and family members. She looks at Juice who was still avoiding her gaze, how could he think that she was interested in Carl, she thought she had dropped enough signals telling him that she was interested in him, but obviously she hadn't.

Getting up from her seat she leant across his bed. Placing her lips softly onto his she kissed him gently. Juice was shocked at first but quickly responded to her soft lips, she tasted like sweet Strawberries he thought to himself as their kiss deepened. She eventually pulled away and gazed into his eyes, resting her hand on his cheek.

"I don't want Carl, I want you. You idiot." They both let out a small laugh before they shared another kiss.

########################

Back at Teller/Morrow Clay, Tig and Happy discuss the meet, they had just had with the Chinese, and then with the Irish.

"I can't believe the Irish are hooking Zobelle up with guns, our guns." Happy snapped, he was pissed at this situation and wanted somebody to pay.

"Don't worry Hap, Prospects on the Irish if they meet with Zobelle we'll know about it and we will get our guns back. But for now try and get in contact with the others were going to need backup later." Happy nodded and pulled out his cell as he walked away.

Clay turned to face Tig "Why didn't Nicole tell me about this?"

"I think Jax might have told her about Donna."

"You think."

"Well it would make sense. Her T/M shirt was left on the desk this morning. And she was being wired before, kept looking at me and not in a good way."

"To be honest I'm shocked he hasn't already, but if he has I'll kill the little shit."

"If she does know it could cause us problems. Her and Donna were close she wont take this lying down." Clay was about to reply but was sidetracked when he saw a guy pushing a motorbike into the lot, he nudges Tig. They start walking towards the stranger.

"Can we help you?" Tig asked giving the stranger the once over.

"Names Ryan." He placed his hand out but neither Clay nor Tig accepted it.

A silence fell between the three of them. The stranger pulled something out of the bag he was carrying, Tig instantly stepped in front of Clay to protect him. But the guy wasn't pulling out a weapon, he was pulling a leather cut that Tig and Clay recognised immediately, they both felt a little more at ease.

"I'm a son from Nevada, you patched us over last year."

"I don't remember you." Clay said still slightly weary of the stranger in front of him.

"I'm Nomad. I was away on business at the time. Look you can ring Jury if you like." Clay nodded to Tig indicating that he wanted him to check out the guy's story. Tig returned five minutes later confirming Ryan's story.

"So what's up with your bike?" Clay asks his tone now relaxed.

"Don't know I was just driving through town and it cut out."

"CARL, STEVE." Tig shouted, the two mechanics came running over.

"He has a problem with his bike, it cut out on him, sort it."

"Sure thing Clay." They take the bike to the workshop.

"So you here for business or pleasure?" Clay asked curiously.

"Pleasure, I'm visiting an old friend."

"Half sack just called it's happening now." Happy informed Clay as he rejoined them. While he waited for Clay to reply he gave Ryan the once over, he seemed familiar.

"Did you get hold of the others?"

"No, no one is answering. Who's this?" Happy was still staring at the stranger.

"The names Ryan."

"He's a son, nomad actually." Tig said. Happy nodded now understanding why the guy looked familiar.

"Ryan, you fancy helping us out?" Clay asked.

"Sure, just tell me what you want me to do."

#######################

After about an hour Clay and the others arrived back at Teller/Morrow, they were pissed off that they didn't get their guns back. Ryan decided to give them some space so that could talk business.

He headed over to the workshop to check on his bike. As he made his way to the workshop he saw more Sons pulling in to the parking lot. He watched as the tension between the two groups of guys escalated.

#############################

"I have to go." Nicole tried pulling away from him but he wouldn't let her.

"I don't want you to go." He whined placing his lips onto hers once again.

"I have to. I'll be back tomorrow I promise." She kissed him lightly on his cheek.

"No I can't wait till then. That's it I'm discharging myself right now." He jokingly started to pull at the wires that were attached to his body.

"If you do that I wont come back at all." She pointed her finger at him like she was telling off a child. They both laughed. They shared one last kiss before she left.

Her phone started ringing again, she had already cancelled about 5 calls without looking who it was. This time she took the time to check the ID. She was shocked to see who the persistent caller was. She was about to answer it but as she rounded the corner she felt herself bump into someone. Looking up to saw that it was Hale. She cancelled the call again.

"Sorry David, was in a world of my own."

"Its okay." Nicole noticed that he didn't look so good.

"Everything okay. Look if its about the other day I didn't mea..."

"No it's not that. I understand that you were just looking out for your family."

"Then what is it?" She placed a comforting hand on his arm.

"It's Luanne we...we've just found her on the side of the road. She was beaten to death." Nicole's hand dropped from his arm and went to her mouth.

"That can't be possible, she was...she was just here. She dropped me off."

He moved towards her giving her a hug "I'm sorry Nicole."

"I can't believe it" She nestled her head into his chest enjoying the comfort he gave her.

"I know it's a bit of a shock."

"Just a bit." She pulls out of his embrace and looked at him. "Will you take me to Teller/Morrow I need to tell the guys."

"I can tell them."

"No I should tell them."

"Okay my Jeep's downstairs, come on."

##########################

Hale and Nicole pulled into the parking lot, they saw the guys standing off to one another, they were obviously arguing about something. "Shit." Nicole snapped as she watched Tig push Bobby.

"What the hell?" Hale mumbled as he watched Nicole run over to the guys.

"Hey." She shouted, but nobody acknowledged her so this time she made sure she was heard. "STOP!" She screamed, gaining all the attention, their eyes left hers though when Hale arrived by her side.

"What's he doing here?" Clay spat.

"And what are you doing with him?" Tig added.

Nicole snapped her head towards Tig "Shut up Tig, he's here because we have something to tell you, so for once in your life why don't you just shut up and listen." Her tone was harsh and everybody seemed surprised by her outburst.

Hale moved closer to her and places a hand on her shoulder, he could tell she was upset. Jax eyes were glued on Hale, he didn't like him touching his cousin although he knew he would never hurt her, there was just something about him being close to her that made his blood boil. Hale caught Jax's stare, he moved away from Nicole.

"We found Luanne she was off County 18. She was beaten to death, we have no other details yet. I'm sorry." Hale looked around at everybody's shocked faces, he was expecting to be bombarded with questions but no one said anything. He looked back at Nicole.

"Thank you." She whispered to him. He nods his head before he heads back to his Jeep.

Everyone waited till Hale had left before any words were spoken. It was Clay who spoke first, he turned to Jax.

"Was this you? Did you cause this?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Payback for Cara Cara." Nicole eyes darted between the two of them.

"This is on me Clay." Opie admitted.

"And me." Bobby added.

"What did you do?" Tig turned to look at Bobby before he lunged himself at him again. Happy pulled Nicole back from the firing line as he went to break up Tig and Bobby.

"Do you see what you're doing to this club." Clay shouted at Jax.

"I was risking my ass for this club." Jax fired back.

"BULLSHIT."

"Your as blind as you are crippled." Jax mumbled as he walked away.

"No, the blind guys in jail with no wife because you just got her killed." Jax turned back around to face Clay. He looked at him for a second before throwing himself at him.

"I'm not the one murdering women." Jax growled.

"STOP...STOP THIS." Nicole screamed, again gaining all their attention. "Luanne is dead, murdered and you lot stand here blaming each other when we should be trying to find the son of a bitch that did this to her. I think everyone should go home cool off and tomorrow as a club you can deal with this." The guys turn to face Clay who nodded in agreement telling them that they should do as Nicole had said.

They made their way to their bikes leaving the parking lot. Clay and Jax were left standing with Nicole. Jax grabbed her arm softly. "You coming?"

"No me and Clay need to talk."

"I'm not leaving you with him."

"What do you think I'm going to do to her?" Jax frowned at Clay, did he really want him to answer that.

"I'll be fine, I'll call you later." Jax reluctantly leaves. Nicole followed Clay into the clubhouse, they head into church so they could talk in private.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Ryan stood with Carl as they watch the drama unfolding across the parking lot.

"Looks like trouble." Ryan commented.

"Yeah, probably best to stay out of it."

"Yeah I agree that's why I'm over here." He joked.

"Shit."

"What?"

"That Jeep it belongs to Hale." Ryan looked at Carl. Carl realised that the nam Hale meant nothing to Ryan. "Hale is the local law enforcement he kinda has it in for the club."

"And the stunner?" Ryan asks causing confusion on Carl's part. Ryan pointed to the girl he was talking about.

"That would be the lovely Nicole Teller." Carl said looking at Nicole.

"Nicole Teller?"

"Yeah Jax's cousin."

"So that would make her Clay's niece."

"Yeap." They both stand looking at the girl across the lot. Both of them admiring her beauty.

"She looks like a bit of a fire cracker."

"Mate you ain't seen nothing."

"Are you and her..."

"No...no she's just a friend. She worked here for a while." Carl paused and looked at Ryan who was still staring at Nicole in fact he realised that he hadn't taken his eyes off her since she walked onto the parking lot. "A little bit of advice, if you are thinking about making a move on her I wouldn't."

"Why?" Ryan finally removed his eyes from Nicole and now focused on Carl.

"Clay and Jax would bring you a whole lot of shit that you don't need."

"Their a little protective of her then?"

"More than a little." Ryan ignored Carl's warnings, he wanted her and he didn't care what got in his way.

############################

Nicole closed the doors behind her. Clay leant against his chair. Nicole thought how deflated he looked, but she wasn't going to feel sorry for him she couldn't, not now, not knowing what she does.

"You can't keep doing this." Her voice was quiet.

"What?" His voice was quiet too.

"Blaming Jax, he didn't make the mistake."

"What and I did. You're blaming me for Luanne's death." His voice was louder, he was annoyed at her for blaming him.

"No I'm not blaming you for that. But you are responsible for Donna's death." She stated matter of factly. Clays looked directly into her eyes, he could see the disappointment she felt about him and it broke his heart.

"It wasn't like that." His voice was quieter than before as he struggled to have this conversation with his niece.

"Then what was it like Clay because from what I know you tried to kill Ope but it went wrong and you ended up killing Donna instead. So you tell me what part am I wrong about?" Her tone was harsh.

"We thought Opie was a rat."

"You know Ope, he would never rat, he served time for this club just admit it Clay you screwed up."

"Yes okay I screwed up, there are you happy?"

"Oh yeah I'm just peachy" She responded sarcastically. Clay shook his head at her before turning away.

"Jax shouldn't have told you, this is club business. He should have kept his mouth shut"

"Why because you threatened to kill him?" Clay turned back to face her "Yeah he told me that to" He saw tears filling in her eyes.

"Princess" He moved towards her but she put her arm out to stop him.

"Don't...Don't princess me. This Donna thing is your burden to carry Clay, you can't keep blaming Jax and as long as you do I don't want anything to do with you. I'll come by your house tomorrow and pick up my things" She headed to the door

"Nicole your not..." She looked back at Clay

"Don't worry Clay I'll keep your little secret. But only because I shouldn't have to be the one to tell Op, that's your cross to bare." As she left the room she heard a loud bang. Clay had obviously gotten mad and thrown something around the room.

As she headed towards her car she saw the light was on in the workshop. Coming to the decision to take him up on his offer, she made her way to the workshop.

"Hey"

"Hey Nic, you okay?" He noticed that she looked exhausted and upset.

"Not really, I take it you seen the drama going on before?"

"Yeah but I don't want to pry. But on the other hand if you do want to talk."

"No actually that's the last thing I want to do. In fact I was wondering if you fancy going for a drink"

"Normally I would but I gotta get this bike done. Maybe tomorrow?"

"Okay, but I'm holding you to that. So what's so special about this bike that you're ditching your friend in need?" Carl grabbed her hand and lead her towards the bike he was working on.

"So what do you think? She's a beaut ain't she?" Nicole dropped her hand from his as she stared at the bike in front of her.

"Wher...Who..um Where did this bike come from?" Nicole stuttered.

"Ryan he's a son, he was passing through and it cut out...Hey are you okay, you look like you've seen a ghost" Nicole quickly started backing out of the workshop

"I've...I've got to go I'll call you tomorrow." She ran to her car her whole body was shaking. Could this be possible, was he really here she thought to herself as she got into her car. She felt completely sick at the thought. She sped out of the parking lot, and headed to Jax's house she needed to feel safe right now.

Nicole pulled into the driveway just as her cell started ringing. She didn't even need to look at the caller ID to know who it was, it was the same person who had been trying to get hold of her day.

"Hey Jury."

"Thank god. Nicole I've been trying to get hold of you all day." 

"I know, I'm sorry its been a bit hectic. I know why you're calling"

"Have you seen him?"

"No. Carl is fixing his bike at Teller/Morrow Jury, how can..."

"I don't know how he knows, You need to keep a low profile Nicole he might not be there for you." He tried reassuring her.

"You don't believe that any more than I do. Look I've gotta go."

"Promise me your be careful, and call me if you need me. I love baby girl." 

"Love you to Uncle Jury" She hung up. She rested her head against the steering wheel to try and catch her breath, and compose herself before she entered the house. She knew Jax would be straight on her when she walked through the door.

As soon as she walked through the door she was proved right, Jax was straight onto her bombarding her with questions.

"Not now Jay."

"What happened with him?"

"Nothing." She went to walk away from him but he grabbed her wrist, she flinched at his touch pulling her wrist from his grasps. Jax was shocked by her reaction

"Did...Did he hurt you?" His tone was serious but his face looked worried.

"What... No he didn't hurt me. I'm sorry it's just been a long day. I just want to have a shower and go to bed."

"You sure your okay?"

"Yes I'm fine."

She kissed him on his cheek and headed into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. She turned on the shower as she started to undress. When she stepped underneath the running water, she was comforted by the feeling of the warm water running over her body. She finally felt her body relax and that's when she finally let her tears fall. How could he be here, how did he find he she thought to herself as more tears came flooding out. Thoughts kept running through her head it was only when she felt the cold water running over her that she was brought out of her daze. She climbed out of the shower wrapping a towel around her small frame. She wiped the steam off the mirror so she could see herself clearly. Her eyes were bloodshot and her cheeks were flushed, there was no way she could hide the fact that she had been crying. She prayed to herself that Jax wasn't out there because she couldn't deal with him right now.

She grabbed the robe that was hanging on the back of the door, she quietly opened the door, thankfully she couldn't see any sign of Jax. She walked into the kitchen and grabbed the bottle of Jack Daniels from the cupboard, she grabbed a glass and filled it with whisky. Taking the bottle and her glass she took a seat at the kitchen table. She takes a swig of the drink, closing her eyes as liquid burned her throat, she enjoyed the feeling. However her enjoyment was interrupted when she heard a noise outside. She jumped up and ran towards the front door, double checking the locks.

"What are you doing?" She turned on her heels to see Jax standing in the hallway still half asleep.

"I heard something outside I was just checking the door was bolted." She tried to sound casual, as she walked passed him into the kitchen.

"And the Whisky bottle what's that for?"

"I just fancied a drink, like I said before it's been a long day" She lit herself a cigarette as she sat back down.

"Yeah tell me about it. Mind if I join you?"

"Take a seat." Jax grabbed a glass out of the cupboard before he took a seat. Nicole filled his glass. The two sat in silence. This is one of the things she loved about their relationship they could sit in silence without it feeling awkward, which worked in her favour as she really didn't feel like small talk right now. The silence was only interrupted when Jax saw Nicole jump in her seat.

"What's up?"

"I thought I heard a noise again." 

"It's probably nothing." He noticed how scared she looked. "Do you want me to check it out?"

"No your right it's probably nothing. So where's Tara?" She asked quickly changing the subject.

"She's staying at hers, still not talking to me." Jax finished what was left in his glass before refilling it.

"Jax I'm sorry?"

"What are you sorry for?"

"Me being here ain't helping things." He noticed that her eyes were filling with tears "I always manage to screw things up." She couldn't hold her tears back any more. Jax moved to her side pulling her into a hug.

"Hey.. What's this?" He rubbed his hand on her back "You have done nothing wrong and your not screwing anything up okay." He pulled her from his chest and cradled her face in his hands. "Are you listening to me you have done nothing wrong."

"I'm sorry, I being such a girl" She laughed as she wipped away some of her tears.

"Well it's a good job your a girl then. Look like you said it's been a long day we both just need some sleep."

"Can...can I stay in your room tonight" Jax looked at her confusion. When they were younger and if she was upset or scared Jax would always wake to find her cuddled up next to him in his bed, But she hadn't done that in years in fact the last time she had done it was just after Michael had died which was when she was 17, but she looked so fragile that he couldn't say no.

"Yeah, come on."


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

The next morning Nicole went to Gemma's and Clay's house to pick up her things. She let herself in, hoping neither one of them would be there but she was disappointed to see that they were both in. Gemma was in the kitchen making breakfast, she turned to face Nicole, but Nicole looked away and walked straight to her room without saying a word. She met Clay in the hallway, their eyes meet but neither one of them acknowledged it. When she finally reached her room she heard Clay tell Gemma that he was going to the clubhouse. She jumped slightly when she heard the door slam shut behind him. She shook her head in frustration, what the hell did he have to be angry about she thought to herself as she started packing up her belongings. About 5 minutes later Gemma entered her room.

"Hey Darlin." Nicole looked in her Aunt's direction but remained silent as she continued packing her things. "Nic why are you doing this?" Nicole stands chucked the top she was holding into her bag.

"Me, I'm not the one who's doing this Gemma."

"Donna was a mistake" Gemma pleaded.

"Okay, her getting killed wasn't suppose to happen I get that, but the fact that Clay planned to kill Opie behind the clubs back, I can't deal with that." She grabbed her bag and pushed past Gemma who quickly turned to follow her.

"You leaving it's wrong, you're breaking Clay's heart." Nicole spun round to face Gemma.

"Don't do that, don't try and make me feel guilty I've done nothing wrong."

"I just feel that this whole family is falling apart." Gemma's voice was shaky.

"And who's fault is that." Nicole bit back, her tone was harsh which caused Gemma more pain. Nicole stormed out of the house

######################

"Bobby get in here." Bobby entered the room and took a seat next to Clay.

"What is it?"

"I've just had Unser on the phone. He's just picked up a couple of porno queens showing a couple of paying customers a good time."

"You're joking?"

"That's it Bobby I want to kill Cara Cara."

"Clay you can't kill it, it's Jax project plus it's a solid money maker."

"I don't care it's dirty and were done with it. And as for Jax I'll deal with him"

"You know he isn't going to like this."

"I don't give a shit just shut it down." Clay demanded.

#########################

Ryan waited impatiently in the dinner just outside Charming. He checked his watch for the hundredth time, the person he was meeting was more than a little late and Ryan hated waiting.

"Ryan?" Ryan turns to around to see where the voice was coming from. He saw a man with a shaved head and tattoos. His appearance made Ryan a bit weary. When Ryan didn't answer the man spoke again. "AJ Weston."

"About time." AJ took a seat opposite Ryan.

"So my Intel was it right?" He asked even though he already knew the answer.

"Yeah it was right apart fro..." Ryan was cut off as the waitress came to take their order. She looks at AJ first.

"Hello and welcome to Harry's my name is Helen and I'll be your waitress. So what can I get for you today"

"Just a coffee sweetheart." The waitress turns to Ryan.

"Would you like a refill?"

"Please." AJ continued their conversation when the waitress left.

"And did you make the set up?"

"Yeah, the cum queens are where they should be and I made the call to the law, the shit should have gone down this morning. Now I'm grateful for your Intel but you did leave out a couple of details."

"Really, what?" Ryan waited to respond as the waitress reappeared with their order. She smiles at Ryan before leaving again.

"Maybe the fact that she's Clay's niece."

"Is that going to be a problem?"

"Well it's something I wasn't expecting her Uncle being the President of the Son's, and her being the VP's baby cousin, but I suppose as long as I can distract them long enough so I can get to her it shouldn't be a problem."

"Trust me Clay and Jax are getting more and more blinded by their hate for each other, you should be able to get close to her."

"Should be, that ain't good enough." 

"Well we do have another plan of breaking up the club but we'll need your help."

"What is it?"

"Cara Cara. You burn it down. We've been told by someone that Clay is not happy with his club being attached to porn, Jax knows this. Hopefully he will put the fire onto Clay, and that's when you start persuading Jax to go Nomad"

"And you think that will work?"

"Might do." 

"And what about ke...Nicole." Ryan quickly corrected himself.

"Whatever, you can do what you like with her. Burning down Cara Cara, that needs to happen tonight. I'll call you later with details" AJ got up from his seat without another word.

###################

When Nicole gets into her car she immediately rang Jax "Hey it's me, how did you get on with Auto?"

"Not good but didn't really expect it to. I've gotta head to the Hospital, Chibs doesn't know yet."

"I'll meet you at the Hospital if you like, I'm just leaving Aunt Gemma's."

"Shit, how did you get on?" 

"How do you think."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"I'll see you at the Hospital then". They both hung up and head to their destination.

Nicole pulled into the Hospital parking lot, she looked around to see if she could see Jax but their was no sign of him. She locked her car doors as she waited for him to arrive.

She was getting inpatient waiting for him, her nerves were shot after the last couple of days, a lot had gone on. Firstly finding out about Donna and then realising that Ryan was walking around Charming. Ever since she had seen his bike in the workshop she hadn't been able to relax.

Getting off his bike, he saw Nicole sitting in her car. He walked over and knocked on the car window making her jump.

"Shit Jay." She grabbed her bag off the passengers seat. Jax went to open her door but realises that it was locked.

"Why did you have your doors locked?" Jax asked as she unlocked the door getting out, Jax noticed how tense she was.

"No reason. So are we going in?"

She walked past Jax into the Hospital. As they walked towards Chibs room Nicole could feel Jax's eyes on her. He had been watching her since they entered the Hospital. She was growing frustrated because she knew he wasn't stupid and that he could read her like a book like she could him, but right now that was the last thing she needed. She couldn't deal with him finding out what was wrong with her, he already had so much to deal with he didn't need to deal with her issues as well.

"Stop it Jax."

"Stop what?" She stopped walking and looked at her cousin.

"Stop looking at me. I know you have been watching me since we entered the Hospital. I'm fine" She started walking again.

He was sick of this something was wrong with her and he needed to know what. He caught back up with her and grabbed her hand. Again she flinched at his touch.

"See what was that?"

"What?" Nicole played stupid, she knew exactly what he was talking about. That was the second time she had pulled away from his touch.

"That. You flinching every time I touch you. Something ain't right with you and I want to know what it is." He tried to gain her eye contact but she was stubbornly avoiding his gaze.

"Nothing is wrong with me, as I keep telling you I'm fine." She mustered a fake smile onto her face hoping that he would back off.

"I'm not buying that Nic."

"Well think what you like. I'm going to see Juice." Without another word she walked away from him.

As he watched her leave Jax ran his hand over his tired face. Something was wrong with her she was scared and he wasn't going to stop until he found out what was causing her fear.

Nicole had been sitting in Juice's room for about 10 minutes, she had told him about Luanne, but right now the pair were sitting in an awkward silence. Juice wanted her close to him, he wanted to taste the sweetness of her kiss again, but she was being distant.

"Nicole is everything okay. You seem a little distant do you...do you regret the..."

"Oh god no." She moved from her chair and took a seat beside him on his bed. "I don't regret us."

"Then what's a matter you know you can tell me." She looked at him she knew she could trust him and she really needed to tell someone. She took a deep breath before she started.

"You know I came here because of my ex boyfriend."

"Yeah."

"Well he's here, here in Charming."

"Has he hurt you?" 

"No nothings happened I haven't seen him I just seen his bike at Teller/Morrow."

"Well maybe he's not here for you".

"No it's too much of a coincidence." She got off the bed and ran her fingers through her hair. "I just don't know how he found me." 

"Well I'm guessing it wouldn't be that hard."

"No Juice you don't understand I don't exist to him."

"What do you mean?"

"If I tell you this, don't interrupt me just listen okay." Juice nodded in agreement.

"When I got out of juviee I wasn't dealing with things well. I couldn't stand being in this town with all the memories of what I had done so I left. I travelled around for a while before I went to Nevada to see Jury he's like an uncle to me and Jax, so he took me in no worries. I just wanted to forget everything, forget about Charming and what I did. Jury came up with an idea, he said that I could stay with him and as no one knew who I was he said we could tell them what we wanted. So we made up a fake name and a fake back story and that was it Nicole Teller was gone and I became Kelly Jameson." She sat back down on his bed she noticed that he was shocked by what he was hearing but she didn't acknowledge it, she was on a roll and if she stopped now she didn't think she would be able to continue.

"About a year later I met Ryan and we hit it off and everything was going great I was actually happy. But then after a year when Ryan went Nomad things changed, he changed. I remember the first time he hit me. I was gonna leave him but he was so sorry for he had done and he promised me it wouldn't happen again and it didn't, not for a long time but then the more stressed he got the more the beatings happened." She felt herself welling up but she fought back the tears, she felt Juice grab her hand, she didn't look at him because she knew if she did she would lose the fight against her tears.

"Didn't Jury do anything?" She could tell that he was angry.

"He didn't know. The first time Ryan hit me, he hit me in the face but I managed to cover that up and everyone believed me when I said I fell. Ryan was a great guy everyone loved him and they knew how happy we were they would never think that he would hurt me like that. But when the beatings got more often Ryan always made sure that he never left a mark on me that could be seen, he always marked me somewhere that I could hide the bruises. But this last time he beat me up pretty good, well you saw what I looked like. I couldn't hide that from Jury so I told him everything, he helped me escape he promised me that Ryan would never find out who I really was or where I had gone."

"Hold on... the club patched over Nevada last year how come they never saw you?"

"Jury warned me that Jax was coming, as much as I wanted to see him I couldn't risk it. So Jury sent Ryan on some stupid pick up run. So I basically camped out in my house till you lot were gone. "

"That's a lot of shit to deal with."

"Yeap, but do you understand now why I'm so freaked that he found me."

"You really need to tell Jax."

"No...no I can't and you can't either, promise me please." He looked at her as she pleaded with him. He nodded in agreement. She smiled back at him, but her smile quickly faded when she saw him pulling at the wires attached to his body. "What are you doing?"

"Well if you don't want Jax to know that's fine but I am not leaving you out there alone with your abusive ex wondering around town. I am not leaving you unprotected."

She placed her hand on top of his stopping him pulling at the wires. "That's sweet but your not exactly a 100% at the minute."

"I don't care." 

"Well I do. I will be fine. I don't have to tell Jax what is going on but I can make sure that I stay around him and I don't leave myself vulnerable. Plus if Ryan really does know who I am I don't think he is going to be stupid enough to try and pull something with Jax and Clay around. And I want you to get better so you're keeping your ass in this bed." She leant in to kiss him. He cradled her face in his hands as they stared into each others eyes.

"Promise me you will stay safe."

"I promise." Their lips met again, this time they only pulled apart when they were distracted when the door opened they both turned to face a very angry looking Jax. Juice pushed Nicole away from him as fear quickly over took his body. Tension filled the room.

"I was just filling him in on Luanne."

"Yeah sure you were. You ready?"

"Yeah" Nicole got off the bed and walked out the room. Jax closed the door behind her.

"We" Jax motioned his finger between himself and Juice "Were going to have a little chat about this." Juice nodded his head.

They walked back to their vehicles in silence, the silence only being interrupted by Jax's cell ringing.

"Who was that?" Nicole asked as he finished he conversation.

"Bobby, wants me to meet him at the clubhouse."

"Why what's up?"

"Don't know but he sounded serious. So I'll see you..."

"Can't I come, I promise I'll stay in the background."

"Sure."

##################

When they arrived at Teller/Morrow. Bobby was sitting on his bike waiting for Jax. They walked over to him.

"Right I'll leave you two talk business, I'm going to see Carl"

"Oh Carl now is it." Jax mocked, she pulled a face at him before walking away.

"So what's up?" Jax asked watching Nicole. 

"It's Clay. He wants me to kill Cara Cara."

"What why?" Jax now gave Bobby his full attention.

"Unser called him about our girls and this shit with Luanne."

"It's club action he can't shut it down without a vote."

"He don't give a shit."

"Someone paid our girls to be on Darby's roster today, do you think Clay set it up as an excuse to shut me down?"

"I'm not sure what either one of you are capable of any more." Jax shook his head

"Where is he?"

"Inside." Jax stormed past Bobby and charged towards the clubhouse. "JAX...JAX"

Nicole was halfway towards the workshop when she heard Bobby shouting. She turned around to see Jax storming towards the clubhouse, Bobby hot on his heels. She didn't need to see his face to know that he was pissed. She ran towards the clubhouse, she entered not long after him but she was too late they had already started arguing. She joined Opie,Happy and Half Sack who were gathered by the door listening to them arguing.

"We need Cara Cara it's our only legitimate income."

"Samcro deals guns and were back online, we don't need pussy any more. You've had you run as porn king, it's over."

"Your out of order."

"Your legitimate business has got this club tied to prostitution and got one of our old ladies killed." Clay snapped. Nicole went to intervene knowing that Clay's last words would push Jax over the edge, but Happy stopped her by grabbing her arm. She turned to face him, he shook his head at her warning her not to get involved. He knew that no one should get in the middle of this not even her.

"Your really going to stand there and lay the quilt of a dead wife on me" He snapped back, anger etched on his voice

"You remember that promise I made." Clay warned. Jax pulled out his gun and loaded it ready. Everyone took a breath. Nicole feelt Happy's grip tighten around her arm. Jax placed the gun on the table.

"Let me make it easy for you." Jax slowly turned around to face Nicole he could see the fear in her eyes. He closed his eyes when he heard Clay pick up the gun.

"DON'T" Nicole shouted finally managing to pull herself free from Happy's grasp. She stepped in between Jax and the gun that Clay was aiming at him. Clay looked at the scared girl that was standing in front of him. He slowly lowered the gun, placing the safety back on before he put it back onto the table. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Jax turns back around to see Nicole standing in front of him he could see her shaking. He places a reassuring hand on her waist before he picked up his gun.

"You need a majority vote to shut it down." Jax turned to look at everyone else "We'll put it out at church tomorrow night."

Jax left the room, as he got outside he bumped into a strange man.

"Sorry man." The stranger quickly apologised. Jax looked up taking in the stranger's appearance. He was about the same height as Jax but a slightly bigger build. His hair was brown and cut short, he had a couple of tattoos on his arms and neck. But the thing that caught Jax's eye the most was the cut he was wearing. Sensing that Jax was giving him the once over he quickly introduced himself.

"I'm Ryan, I'm from Nevada you patched us..."

"Yeah I know. What you doing here?"

"I was passing through and my bike cut out. Clay said it would be okay if I stuck around for a bit"

"I'm sorry man just having a bad day, you need anything?"

"Nah I think I'm good" Jax turns around and faced the other guys who were coming out of the clubhouse. Everyone looked a little shocked by what had just happened.

Once Clay and Nicole were alone he tried to speak to her, he noticed that she was shaken by the scene she had just witnessed. "Princess" She finally looked at him, a tear fell.

"Were you really going to kill him?" He stepped closer to her but she quickly stepped back from him. She was scared of him and that broke his heart.

"I wasn't going to kill him and I'm not going to hurt you."

"I don't know who you are any more can you just leave."

"Nicole."

"Please just leave me alone." Clay took one last look at his broken niece before doing what she asked.

She could feel more tears falling, she was trying hard to fight them back but she was losing the battle. She heard footsteps behind her, she quickly wipped away her tears. She was about to turn around but when the man spoke her whole body froze.

"Hello Kelly".


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Ryan closed the gap between himself and Nicole. He could see her shaking. She slowly turned round to face him, he had a cocky smile on his face, she could tell he was proud with himself that he had finally found her.

"I'm sorry I should be calling you by your real name. Nicole isn't it?" She tried to respond but not matter how hard she tried she couldn't get the words out.

She kept looking at the floor, she couldn't look at him. She felt him walking closer towards her, until she finally felt his hot breath tickling her face. He placed his hand on her face, out of nowhere she managed to regain the use of her body and she pushed his hand away from her and stepped backwards creating more of a gap between them.

As she continued moving away from him she felt her back slam against the chair behind her. Knowing he had her pinned he pushed himself closer to her. He placed his hands on the back of the chair caging her in. He snuggled his head against her neck

"God I missed that smell." Nicole swallowed the sickening feeling that was rising in her throat.

"Don't" She whimpered. He ignored her pleas and continued tormenting her. He twirled a strand of her long brown hair around his fingers. "Don't"

This time her voice was louder causing Ryan to look at her, she pushed him away, he stumbled backwards. Ryan wasn't shocked by this, she had always been a fighter in-fact it was that spark that he liked about her, well that was until she went to far then she had to be taught a lesson. He was just about to approach her again when he heard footsteps behind him.

" Nic everything okay?" Jax asked as he picked up on the tension in the room. Nicole's attention was now fully on Jax, Ryan however kept his eyes on Nicole. She quickly grabbed her bag off the floor taking full advantage of this opportunity to get away. She knew that Ryan wouldn't want to arouse suspicion about what was going and if he really was that stupid to try and stop her leaving then she knew that Jax would never allow that to happen.

"Yeah...yeah I'm fine I just can't be here right now." She rushed towards the exit but Jax placed his arm in front of her stopping her in her tracks.

"You sure?" Jax eyes moved from her to Ryan who had turned to face the both of them. Nicole knew that Jax was really asking if Ryan had done anything. She really wanted to tell him the truth, to tell him that the guy who had caused her to run back home scared was the guy in front of him. She looked back at Ryan, who was looking slightly nervous, before looking back at Jax.

"Yeah everything's fine, he hasn't done anything." She lied. She pushed his arm down so she could pass. Jax watched her leave guilt rising in his body, he knew he shouldn't have told her, it was too much for her to handle.

"Hey, sorry man I didn't mean to upset her. I just wanted to check she was okay." Jax looked at Ryan.

"It's okay man, it's been a rough day."

"You want a drink?" Ryan asked motioning towards the bar behind Jax.

"Yeah why not." They walked over towards the bar. Ryan took a seat while Jax grabbed a bottle of Whisky and two shot glasses. He took a seat next to Ryan and poured them both a drink. Jax downed two shots before Ryan even finished his first shot.

"It must have been a bad."

"You have no idea."

"Wanna talk?" Ryan offered with caution not wanting to push Jax to hard.

"Nothing to say really, just me and Clay are butting heads at the moment."

"Well don't want to over step the mark or anything, but have you tried talking to him I mean he's not just President he's your stepfather as well."

"Honestly I think we've gone past that stage."

"Well maybe you both need to take a break from each other." Ryan downed his shot before adding the next part to his sentence. "You ever thought about going Nomad?"

"Nah, don't think that's for me."

"You know it's not as bad as everyone makes out. I've been Nomad for a couple of years. And it doesn't have to be a permanent thing, just enough time for things to cool down between you and Clay."

"Maybe." Jax downed another shot. "Thanks for this man, but I better be going." Jax got up from his stool, he patted Ryan on the back.

#################

Nicole rushed back to Jax's house. Her hands were still shaking. She checked that she wasn't followed before she rushed into the house. As she closed the door she made sure she locked it properly, making sure that all bolts were bolted so that no one could get in.

"Everything okay Sweetie?" Nicole turned around and sees Neeta cradling Abel in her arms, she looked confused.

"Do you know if the back door is locked... Doesn't matter I'll check it anyway." Nicole rushed past her and checked the back door. Neeta's eyes followed her, she knew that something was wrong. She placed Abel in his crib, when she returned she saw that Nicole was now checking the windows. She walked up behind her and placed her hand on her shoulder. Nicole was shocked and hits Neeta's hand off her shoulder. When she looked at Neeta she realised what she had done.

"Oh my god Neeta I'm sorry..." Her voice was shaky.

"It's okay baby your safe here."

Nita gently pulled Nicole into a hug. Nicole embraced her."Now baby what is it that has you so scared?" Neeta ran her hand over Nicole's hair.

This action brought back the memory of her mother. She didn't have many memories of her Mom but this one remained etched in her head, all she knew was right now she really wanted her Mom, wanted it to be her pulling her into her arms, telling her everything was going to be okay, but that wasn't going to happen so Nicole decided that she would have to settle for what she had and with things being so bitter between her and Gemma, all she had at the moment was Neeta. Nicole lifted her head, Neeta looked so worried for her.

"Why don't we take a seat sweetie." They sat on the sofa. Neeta pulled Nicole's hands into hers. "Now why don't you tell me what it is that has you this scared?"

"I...um... My.." Nicole was interrupted by commotion coming from the front door.

Her hand quickly dropped from Neeta's as she stood to her feet. Her body started shaking at the thought of who might be behind that door. Neeta stood by Nicole. Both of them breathing a sigh of relief when they heard a familiar voice.

"Neeta... Neeta let me in." Tara shouted.

"It's Tara?" Neeta confirmed, looking at Nicole.

"I can't.." She left Neeta's side and ran into the bathroom locking the door behind her.

"Neeta." Her attention was now back on the door. She walked over to the door and unlocked it allowing Tara to enter.

"Why was the door bolted?" Tara snapped making her way into the house.

Nicole heard Tara's voice she quickly turned the shower on, while she cowered in the corner of the bathroom. She really couldn't do with Tara and her questions.

"It was just for safety." Neeta replied.

"Okay."

"Did you have a good day at work?"

"It was long. All I want to do right now is have a long soak in a..." Tara stopped as she approached the bathroom, she heard running water. "Is someone in there?"

"Nicole's taking a shower."

"For gods sake" Tara mumbled. She grabbed her bag off the chair where she had placed it. She rushed towards the front door. As she opened the front door she fell into Jax. She readjusted herself before storming past him.

"Hey where are you going?" Jax asked.

"Home."

"Why?"

"Well I was just about to take a long hot soak in the bath but your cousins in there."

"Well wait she wont be long."

"No Jax I'm sick of waiting I'm going." Tara got into her car and drove off. Jax knew that her mood wasn't about Nicole being in the shower it was about him and the club. He needed to sort this out now, so he decided he would deal with Nicole later. He jumped on his bike and followed Tara.

Nicole heard a light knocking on the bathroom door. "Baby Tara's gone it's just us you can come out now."

Nicole pulled herself of the floor and opened the door, Neeta was waiting patiently for her outside. "Thank you."

"It's okay so do you want to talk?"

"Actually I think going to have a lie down." Nicole didn't wait for a response before heading into her room.

Neeta watched her leave, hoping to herself that the Nicole would open up to her and share her worries but for now Neeta knew that the opportunity had passed.

Nicole started undressing herself, she picked up one of Jax's old t-shirt that she had been using to sleep in and pulled it over her. She fell onto her bed and closed her eyes. She knew that there was no chance of her going to sleep not with everything whirling around in her head. She grabbed her I pod off the side table and placed the earphones into her ears. She scrolled through her albums until she found one that would hopefully help settle her. As she listened to the melody of the Kings of Leon song Closer she finally started to relax.

She opened her eyes to find herself in darkness, as she let herself adjust she pulled her earphones out and sat up. She had finally fallen asleep and she had to be honest with herself she felt better. She ran her fingers through her hair when she heard voices in the next room. Walking out of her room she headed towards the voices. She stopped dead when in her tracks when she saw who the voices belonged to. She watched as Neeta placed a cup of coffee on the table where Ryan was sitting with Abel in his arms. They were both laughing when Need realised that Nicole was standing in the hallway watching them.

"There you are baby did you have a good sleep?" Nicole nodded her head. She wrapped her arms around her body suddenly realising how undressed she was. Ryan was now looking at her, he had that cocky smile across his face again.

"Everything okay?" Neeta asked this time picking up that something was wrong.

"Take Abel for a walk." Nicole ordered.

"What sweehe..."

"Nita take Abel for a walk NOW" Ryan was now on his feet standing behind Neeta who had moved closer to Nicole.

"Now that ain't going to happen. I'm not letting her out of here so she can run to tell your Uncle or Cousin, how stupid do you think I am." Neeta looked between the two of them. She was confused, but when as she looked back at Nicole's face she quickly realised that this man was the reason for her being scared.

"Fine but give her Abel, you don't need him. It's me you want and you have me." She closed the gap between her and Ryan. Ryan looked her square in the eyes before making his decision.

"Okay but you." He pointed to Neeta and then to the sofa. "Sit here so I can keep an eye on you." Neeta looked to Nicole for an answer.

"It's okay." Nicole reassured her. Nicole looked back at Ryan "Give her Abel." Ryan handed her Abel. She took a seat where Ryan had told her to. Ryan grabbed Nicole's arm forcefully and dragged her into the kitchen. He pulled out a chair and pushed her down into it.

"So what do you want to talk about?" Nicole asked even though she already knew the answer.

"Don't play cute. Where is it?"

"Where's what?" Ryan scoffed before moving towards her. He grabbed her hair pulling her head back. Nicole raised her hand trying to stop him but it didn't work.

"My money where is it?" Ryan spoke through gritted teeth.

"I don't have it."

"You're lying."

"NO." Nicole shouted. Ryan pulled her up off the chair and slammed her into the wall behind her. She gasped in pain. A tear fell down Neeta's face as he heard him attack her. She pulled a crying Abel closer.

"I swear to you I don't have it."

"Then where is it?" He shouted, as he pushed her harder against the wall.

"It's gone."

"It's gone?"

"I spent it. I used it as bail money."

"You stupid bitch." He punched the wall making her jump. He lets go of her as he ran his hand over his rough face before looking back at her. "So we have a little problem then don't we. I'm down my guns and 250."

"I have the guns." She said trying to keep her voice steady.

"Where?" Nicole eyes fell to the floor and that was when Ryan noticed that she was wearing her necklace with the ring on it but now laying next to the gold ring was a bronze key. He closed the gap and ripped the chain from around her neck.

"No, give me that." She went to grab it back off him, but he pushed her away from him causing her to lose her balance. As she fell she crashed into the chair she had once been sitting on, The chair and Nicole both crashed to floor. Ryan bent down beside her.

"Where?"

"Storage Unit Number 12. Down on the estate just out of town." Ryan grabbed hold of her face pining her against the cupboard behind her.

"You get me my money or I will rip your family apart, and then I'll start with you. Do you understand me?" Nicole nodded, as a tear rolled down her face. Ryan stood up. He looked down at her, but she was avoiding his gaze.

As he went to walk out of the kitchen he saw a pile of dishes on the side. As he passed them he knocked them off making an almighty noise as they crashed to the floor. Nicole looked up when she heard Abel screaming. Ryan laughed before he exited the kitchen. He looked at Neeta.

"It was nice meeting you Neeta, maybe we'll do this again." He said smugly as he walked toward the front door. He looked at the chain with the ring and the key on it before he placed it into the pocket of his jeans.

Neeta waited until she heard the front door close. She placed Abel back in his room before rushing to Nicole. She went over to the young girl who was sobbing on the floor.

"I'm sorry baby" Neeta apologised as she grabbed Nicole's shaking hand into hers.

"It's not your fault."

"I should have never let him in."

"You didn't know." Nicole attempted to pull herself off the floor, but she only managed to get halfway when she felt a pain in her back.

"You hurt?"

"Yeah my back, I must have hurt it when I fell into the chair."

"Come on let's get you up." Neeta gently took hold of Nicole's arm as she tried to help her up. She noticed the red marks that Ryan had left on her arm. She immediately felt guilty. "I'll call Jax."

"No."

"But."

"No Neeta, Jax doesn't need to know about this, in fact no one needs to know. Look you should go."

"I can't leave you alone what happens if he comes back?"

"He won't he has made his point. You have done enough you should go home and get some rest... Please, I'll be fine."

"Fine I'll go but I will be back tomorrow and like it or not sweetie we will be talking about this." She kissed Nicole on her forehead.

Nicole bolted the front door behind Neeta. She headed into Abel's room where she tried to comfort him. Once she had finally settled him she took a seat in the chair beside his crib.

Nicole woke up when she heard the phone ringing. Looking around she realised that she had fallen asleep in Abel's room. Rising from the chair she quickly placed her hand on her back, she was still in pain. She checked on Abel, who was still sound asleep, before she answered the phone.

"Hello."

"Nic it's Happy."

"Hey what's up?"

"I'm trying to get hold of Jax but he's not answering, are you with him?"

"No, he stayed at Tara's have you..."

"Yeah I tried there no one was home." Panic started to take over Nicole as she suddenly remembered the threat that Ryan had made last night. But her fear was quickly gone when Jax came round the corner.

"Thank god, Happy he's just walked in." She walked up to Jax and handed him the phone. His eyes narrow on her, he could tell that she had been crying.

"Hey Hap what's up?"

"You have to get to Cara Cara now, we have a major problem."

Jax eyes followed Nicole into the kitchen, she remembered that she hadn't cleaned up the mess from last night. She grabbed the dustpan and brush out of the cupboard and starts cleaning up the broken plates. Jax watched Nicole as she struggled to clean up the mess. Two questions were running through his head. One why were there broken plates on the floor and, two why did she look like she was in pain. He was only brought out of his thoughts by the voice down the other end of the phone.

"Jax... Jax"

"Sorry man, look I think I have a problem at home so can you handle it?"

"No Jax you need to get up here now."

"Okay... I'll be there." Jax hung up the phone. He walked over to the Kitchen leaning against the door frame while he continued observing her.

"What happened?" He asked as she placed the broken plates into the bin.

"Nothing I just knocked them over this morning, was about to clean up when Happy rang. What did he want by the way?" She tried to change the subject.

"Nothing really, just wants me up at Cara Cara. So you knock the chair over as well?" Both Jax and Nicole were looking at the chair in question. She didn't answer his question instead she walked over to the chair and slowly picked up the chair trying do it without causing herself any more pain. Jax knew she was in pain and was about to help her when Neeta announced her presence.

"Hey baby, everything okay here?" She asked noticing the confused look on Jax's face.

"I don't know, Nicole?" Nicole looked between Jax and Neeta not knowing what to say. It was obvious the she was hurt and she couldn't hide it and right now her brain decided to die as she couldn't think of an excuse to get herself out of this one.

"Is your side still hurting?" Nicole's eyes shot to Neeta horror in her face.

"What?" Jax and Nicole were both looking at Neeta.

"Your never guess what this one did, she only fell in the shower last night, clumsy or what." Nicole's breathed a sigh of relief before quickly backing up Neeta's story. Jax however still seemed unconvinced but he didn't have time to question them, Happy had sounded urgent.

"Well that was stupid. Right I have to go we'll catch up later yeah."

"Course." They all exchanged awkward smiles before Jax left.

"Thank you Neeta I just can't tell him."

"Well don't thank me yet you have some talking to do. Oh and if you don't want Jax to find out I suggest you cover them." Nita pointed to the bruises that where on Nicole's arm. Nicole herself hadn't realised that they were there. She quickly tried to hide them with her hand.

##################

Jax arrived at Cara Cara. He was shocked by what he was seeing in front of him. There were fire department guys scattered around trying to put out the last of the flames. He made his way over to Bobby and Happy who were standing at the front of the building.

"Unbelievable" Bobby tutted, he wasn't expecting anyone to answer him, but they both turned around when they heard Jax's voice.

"This was Clay he just couldn't let me have it." Bobby went to respond but Jax didn't let him. "That's it call Quinn tell him I want a transfer, I'm going Nomad"

###################

Neeta sat with her mouth open, she was trying to digest everything that Nicole had just told her.

"You really need to tell Clay."

"Me and Clay aren't exactly on speaking terms right now."

"Then tell Jax, they can help you."

"If I tell him Jax will kill him and plus he already has so much to deal with. I can deal with on my own."

"And last night is that what you call dealing with it?"

"Last night Ryan just wanted to make a point he wanted me to know that he was pissed. Plus Jax isn't going anywhere so I just have to make sure I'm by his side until I get Ryan his money back and everything will be fine. I promise."


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

"So is it true?" Tig asked as he downed another shit of Whisky at the bar.

"Yeah Clay's on the phone now to the nomad president." Tig was about to comment but Clay walked into the room just as he finished up his call. Clay felt everybody's eyes on him as he ended the call.

"They have accepted Jax their just waiting for our answer." Clay informed them.

"Is he really going through with this?" Half sack asked.

"Yeah." Bobby answered him, not taking his eyes off Clay.

"God dammit Bobby I didn't light the god dam match." Clay said sharply.

"Maybe you should tell that to Jax" Opie added from behind Clay.

"If he really believes that I would do that, I've got no reason to keep him around." Clay was now looking at Opie, silence fell between the group.

Ryan entered the room and quickly picked up on the tension.

"Is this a bad time?" He asked looking between everyone before Bobby gained his full attention, by slamming down his drink causing the glass to break. Now everyone was looking at him.

"Was this you?" He asked Ryan.

"Was what me?" Ryan was confused by Bobby's question. Bobby walked over to Ryan and squared up to him.

"Don't bullshit me, did you put the idea of going Nomad in Jax's head" Ryan was just about to answer but someone else beats him to it.

"Bobby my decision to leave has nothing to do with him so back off." Jax told Bobby as he stood next to Ryan. He realised that Bobby was still death staring Ryan. "Bobby... BOBBY" Finally Jax gained Bobby's attention. Bobby backed down and returned to his potion of sitting at the bar.

"Sorry about that man" Jax placed a hand on Ryan's shoulder.

"It's al'right." Another silence fell between the group before Clay broke it.

"We need a full table tonight." Clay ordered before leaving. He walked past Jax and the two share another deadly glare.

As Clay exited the clubhouse he bumped into Nicole who was on her way inside. They both felt awkward, neither one knowing what to do or say. She moved to her right to go pass him but Clay went to move as well and accidentally blocked her path.

"Sorry" He said. She moved to her left this time and once again Clay moved the same way. This time it was Nicole's turn to apologise. A smile falls onto Clay's face, but Nicole remained emotionless. He placed his hand on her side so he could move and get passed. As he did that he noticed her flinch in pain.

"Are you okay, you hurt?" He asked cautiously.

"Don't pretend like you care, I'm fine and even if I wasn't it's none of your business any more." She walked past Clay.

Seeing Clay really hadn't helped her mood, but her mood went from bad to worse when she walked into the bar to see Jax and Ryan together, but the worse thing was that they actually looked like they were getting on. Her whole body tensed as she stood there watching them.

"Hey Nic" Opie placed a hand on her arm. Nicole jumped at the touch on her skin, she turned around quickly only to be faced with Opie's confused expression. "Sorry."

"No Opie don't apologise it's me I just didn't get much sleep last night, to be honest I haven't been sleeping much at all lately." Her focus returned to Jax and Ryan.

"Yeah I kinda noticed that you haven't been yourself. Take it, it has to do with the business going on between Jax and Clay?" She swallowed the lump in her throat, here we go again she thought she was going to have to lie to someone else she cared for.

"Yeah it's been a bit heavy lately."

"Yeap." He placed his arm around her, this time she doesn't flinch. Jax finally noticed Nicole.

"Excuse me." He left Ryan's side and walked over to Nicole and Opie. "You okay?"

"Yes Jay I'm fine. Is he?" Nicole asked pointing to Bobby. She watched as he downed a drink and then immediately refill his glass.

However what she didn't see was the head shake that Jax had given to Opie, it was his way of silently telling him to keep his mouth shut about his decision to go Nomad. Opie slightly agreed.

Nicole eyes had now drifted from Bobby to Ryan, she tried her hardest not to look at him but she couldn't help it this whole situation was so surreal.

"Just club stuff. So were going to get Chibs from the hospital you wanna come?" When she didn't respond to his question he realised that something else had gained her attention.

Following where her eyes were resting he was shocked to see that her gaze was on Ryan, and what he found more shocking was that Ryan was staring back at her even though he could tell that he was trying to hide it. Jax looked back at Opie, It seemed he to had noticed that they were looking at each other.

"Nic."

When she ignored him again Jax clicked his fingers in front of her face, snapping her out of her daydream. Her eyes snapped up to meet Jax's quizzical gaze. Opie on the other hand noticed Ryan's reaction, when Nicole diverted her eyes from his. He to seemed to snap out of it but it seemed that he was almost unaware that he had been trapped in a daze with her. Ryan noticed that he was now under Opie's protective gaze and quickly left his seat and headed into the kitchen.

Ryan tried to pull himself together and get his head back in the game, he didn't love her any more she had left him, he kept telling himself but then another voice in his head would speak up, she left you because you slept with some little tart, she left because you hurt her, its all your fault. He turned on the cold tap and splashed the water onto his face as he tried to drown out the voices in his head.

"What is it with you and him?" Jax asked.

"With who" Nicole played dumb.

"You and Ryan what's up with that?"

"Nothing."

"Well you were just staring at him." Opie commented, her eyes quickly fall upon Opie standing next to her

"No I wasn't." She lied.

"You so were." Opie stated matter of factly.

"Yeah you looked like a love sick puppy." Jax toyed.

"No I wasn't" She snapped. She hated it when they did this, they always ganged up on her ever since they were kids. Normally she would take it in her stride knowing full well that they meant no harm but this time she couldn't ignore it ,not when it was involving Ryan.

"Okay calm down were only joking." Opie pulled her closer to him but she pushes him back.

"Yeah well it's not funny." She glared at both of them.

"Were sorry. Anyway you still haven't answered my question. Do you fancy coming to pick up Chibs from the Hospital?" Jax repeated.

"Yeah, I'll go wait in my car."

"No you can ride with me." Jax handed Nicole the keys to his bike. "I'll be out in a second okay." Opie waited till she was out of sight before he turns to face Jax.

"So did you tell my Dad?"

"Yeah."

"How did he take it?"

"How do you think. He was pissed said he doesn't understand."

"I can't wrap my head around it either brother."

"I have to do this, I have to do it for the club. Me and Clay aren't working."

"He's your father Jax."

"No my father died 16 years ago."

"Fine, if you don't care about Clay what about her man." He nodded his head in the direction that Nicole had left "She ain't right man she's hurting and you leaving I think... I think it will send her over, like before. You know what she's like."

"What do you mean hurting?" Jax questions him.

"This shit with you and Clay it's affecting her man I'm not the only one to notice we've all..."

"You've been talking about her?" Jax raised his voice in anger, without realising it he had gained everyone's attention.

"We just care for her brother"

"Well don't she's my responsibility and I'll take care of her" He noticed that silence had fallen in the room. He turned around as saw everyone watching him, even Ryan had come out the kitchen to see what the noise was. "No one tells Nicole anything." Everyone nodded in agreement before he stormed outside.

#######################

On the way back from picking up Chibs Half sack started filling him in on what he has missed.

"I can't believe Cara Cara got burnt down was really looking forward to paying a visit." They both laughed "So how did it happen?"

"We don't know yet but..but Jax thinks Clay did it."

"What why?"

"To kill the porno biz now that were back selling guns."

"Jesus Christ, anything else I missed?" Half sack didn't respond but Chibs noticed the he was fidgeting nervously. "What is it?"

"Jax is going Nomad." 

"WHAT, NOMAD."

"Yeah I know, but you can't say anything cause Gemma and Nicole don't know." Chibs has nothing to say.

####################

As they pulled into the parking lot, everyone started gathering to meet Chibs. Clay was the first one to greet him.

"Good to see you brother." They shared a manly hug. Chibs didn't speak. He turned to face Nicole and Jax who had just gotten of his bike and were now making their way over to him and the others. Jax noticed the angry look Chibs was giving him, he realised that Half sack must have told him about his choice of going Nomad.

Jax turned to Nicole "Will you give us a minute."

"Sure." She gave Chibs a kiss before heading to the clubhouse.

"Hello...Hello" She shouted checking if anyone was there, when she heard no response she took a seat and pulled out her cell. She dialled the number and hoped that she got an answer.

"Hello."

"Jury."

"Nicole you okay?"

"I'm in big trouble."

"Tell me everything."

"When I left Ryan I took his car, I didn't know that it was in there I swear I would never have taken the stupid thing if I had known. And now I don't know what to do he wants it back and I don't have it and I don't know how I'm going to get it." Nicole ranted not making any sense.

"Okay calm down baby girl, what was in the car?"

"Money and now he wants it back."

"How much?" Nicole took a long pause. "How much?"

"250."

"Thousand?" Jury asked in shock.

"Yeah i'm so sorry Uncle Jury I never... I never" Her breath caught as her emotions threatened to take over her.

"It's okay, I'll sort this."

"No I can't let you do that."

"Well it's tough i'm doing it. Now apart from that has he done anything else"

"Not really." 

"What does that mean" Jury didn't like the sound of _'Not really.'_

"Nothing serious he's threatened me but I can handle it." 

"I take it you haven't told Jax?" 

"No and I'm not going to Jury, I don't want him dragged into this."

"I take it I'm not going to be able to say anything to change your mind on that."

"No."

"In that case I want you to ring me if you need help, even if you think it's something stupid just call."

"Okay I promise and thank you so much Jury I don't know what I'd do without you."

"I'll give you a call, let you know what's happening with the money. Take care of yourself Baby girl."

"And you." Nicole hung up and leaned back against the sofa. She hated asking him for money but she needed to protect her family and she really wanted to get rid of Ryan.

##################

Chibs checked to see that Nicole was well out of hearing distance before turning to face Clay "Jacky boy going Nomad, Cara Cara burning down, anything else I don't know about?" He said bitterly.

"We just wanted to let you heal brother." Clay explained.

"Well I'm all better."

"Why don't we just save it for the table later." Clay ordered, his tone serious letting Chibs know that this wasn't up for debate.

"Fine."

Jax watched as Chibs stormed off, he attention however was npw on his cell that was ringing. It was Tara demanding him to get home. He excused himself from the group before jumping on his bike. Jax arrived home meeting Tara in the hallway.

"What's up you were pretty vague on the phone?" Tara didn't answer instead she lead him into the lounge where he saw Stahl sitting on his sofa. He stood in front of her, Tara standing next to him holding tightly onto Abel.

"You got a warrant?" He asked

"You see me looking?" She responded with the same shitty tone Jax had used with her.

"I have nothing to say to you."

"Well I have something to say to you, I was just wondering why you're leaving Samcro." Tara eyes quickly shot to Jax, he looked at her before bowing his head.

"Give us a minute." Jax told her.

"I'm sorry I thought old ladies were privy." Stahl sarcastically apologised.

"Shut up. How did you know?"

"Well that's the good thing about a small town, doesn't take long for word to spread."

"What do you want?" Jax was growing tired of her games.

"The Irish. They sold you out so you do the same and more importantly you get to screw Ethan Zobelle." Jax shook his head.

"I don't rat." Stahl was starting to get pissed off with his attitude.

"The Son's are in our grace at the moment, but if you don't help me I will come after you and I don't just mean the club."

"What?"

"Well is Tara a legal guardian, because I would hate to have call the social. And Nicole you know she has some secrets that could get her tro..." Jax cut her off.

"Your full of shit now get out."

"Am I." Stahl got up from her seat and walked out leaving Jax fuming.

He walked into Abel's room to talk to Tara. "What was she talking about?"

"I'm joining the Nomad Charter of the Sons." He knew that didn't mean anything to her, so he started to explain. "It means I'm still part of the MC but I'm not attached to anyone town."

"You're talking about leaving Charming?"

"No it just means that I attend Church in a few different places, put a few more miles on my bike."

"Well how do you fix Samcro if your not apart of it?"

He places his hands on her shoulders "I can't do what I need to do with Clay around. It will just be for a few years until Clay steps down."

"A few years we've barely made it through the past few months."

"It's som..." Tara cut him off and she shrugged his hands off her.

"You...you made this decision without me."

"It's the right thing to do." 

"Then why didn't you tell me?"

"Don't do this Tara."

"Do what?" She snapped angrily.

"Make this about you, this is something I have to do and I'm not going to apologise for that." He walked out on her.

When he got outside Jax called Booby to ask him to meet him at , as they needed to proxy Juice's vote.

##########################

When they arrive outside his room Jax placed his arm in front of Bobby stopping him from entering."Let me talk to him first" Bobby nodded in agreement even though he didn't really understand why. Jax walked into the room he saw Juice shift nervously in his bed. This was the first time he had seen Jax since he caught him and Nicole together.

"Look Jax I wasn't trying anything with her we … we like each other."

"That's not why I'm here, but while were on the subject. You know why she came here right?"

"Yeah."

"She was hurt, now your a good guy and I do like you but I don't want her getting hurt again ever."

"Me neither."

"Well that's good to hear. Just be careful with her, because as much as I like you don't think I will hesitate in killing you if you hurt her." Juice smiled but it quickly faded when he saw the stern look Jax was giving him.

"I understand."

"Good. Now Bobby's outside he needs to proxy your vote." Juice looked confused

"What for?"

"I've applied for a transfer, Nomad." Jucie sat in silence shocked by the news. "I'll let Bobby in." Jax walked towards the door opening it to let Bobby in, just before he was about to leave Juice called him back.

"Does she know?" Jax frowned at him. "Nicole."

"Not yet."

Juice refused to give Bobby his vote promising that he would make the meet. Bobby tried to discourage him but it was a fight he was loosing. Finally Bobby gave in, Juice told him not to mention it to anyone and he agreed. He waited at least half an hour giving Bobby and Jax enough time to leave, before he started pulling at the wires attached to his body. As he grabbed his clothes from the draws he started getting dressed when his nurse walked in.

"Excuse me but what are you doing?"

"I'm leaving." Juice replied pulling on his boot.

"But you still need to be observed."

"I don't care I need to get out of here now." He walked straight passed the shocked Nurse.

######################

Tara walked into the office at Teller/Morrow. She was glad to see Gemma sitting there. As she took a seat in the chair, Gemma pulled her glasses off knowing that this visit wasn't a social one, something was wrong.

"What is it?"

"Jax said he's joining the Nomad Charter, said he needs to get away from Clay."

"Jesus Christ." Gemma jumped up from her seat. "I knew something was up but I didn't realise it was this." She rubbed her hand across her forehead.

"Maybe it's a good thing." Gemma turned sharply on her heels to face Tara.

"No. Nomad is not a good thing, no family no roots."

"He seems so sure it's the right thing."

"Jax is so wrapped up in his hate for Clay he doesn't know what's best for him. Trust me Tara you don't want Jax in a charter scattered across four states, on the road alone with the enemies we have. You want that phone call telling where to pick up his body?"

"What?" Gemma and Tara both turn to face where the voice had come from. Nicole was standing in the doorway to the workshop. She had come to talk to Carl when she heard voices in the office.

"What's going on?" Nicole knew that she had interrupted them. Walking into the room she realised that Gemma and Tara looking at each other. "Somebody better start talking now."

"Jax is planning to go Nomad." Tara spit out as she stood in front of Nicole.

"What?"Nicole huffed out in disbelief.

"Jax and I think it will be a good..." Gemma quickly cut Tara off as she saw that Nicole wasn't impressed.

"Tara, can you give me and Nicole some space."

"But..." 

"Now Tara." Tara walked out the office knowing that there was no point arguing with Gemma.

Nicole shook her head. "What the hell does she mean for the best, does she even understand what this means."

"I know baby." Gemma tried to hug her but she pulled away. Gemma tried again and this time she didn't allow her to pull away. Nicole looked up at Gemma she could see tears welling in her eyes.

"We can't this happen Aunt Gemma we just can't." Gemma pulled her closer.

"Don't worry Baby I'm not going to let that happen, I promise."

The embrace was warm and caring, something that neither of them had felt from eachother in a while. They both absorbed it not wanting to let go.

Nicole heard the rumble of a familiar motorbike, she looked up at Gemma who had also heard the motorbike. Nicole pulled out of the hug and quickly walked over to the window to see Jax climbing off his bike. She took one last look at Gemma and smiled before existing the office.

She charged towards Jax and pushes him. Jax was shocked and confused by her actions, but his confusion was quickly cleared up.

"Nomad seriously, what the hell are you thinking?"

"Nic I'm sorry."

"Were you even going to tell me or were you just going to leave?"

"I promise I was going to tell you. You know the situation I need to put distance between me and Clay." Nicole's eyes dropped to the floor. Jax stood there watching as his fragile cousin was trying to fight back her tears. He knew that she would be pissed off but he wasn't expecting this reaction maybe Opie was right his shit with Clay was damaging her. He went to hug her but she stopped him.

"Fuck you Jackson, you do what's right for you and fuck everyone else." She knew by the look in his eyes that he was hurting and she hated herself for making him feel like that but she couldn't stop herself. She went to walk away but he pulled her back.

"Nic please don't do this, I need you of all people to be okay with this."

"Why?"

"Because your one of the most important people in my life and I hate myself for hurting you, but I need you to understand and support me on this. I need to put distance between me and Clay before we end up killing each other. Nic please just tell me your okay with this"

He places his other hand on her face and wiping away her tears. She closes her eyes at the feel of his touch, but the image of him leaving her alone with Ryan was too much and snapped her back into reality. If there was any chance that her not supporting him, would make Jax stay then that was what she had to do. She pushed his hand away.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not fine with this." She walked away from him wiping more tears from her face.

Jax watched her leave, he ran his hand over his beard. He slowly turned away from her, where he saw Gemma standing at the office, she signals for him to come over. He hesitated not knowing if he had another fight left in after that with Nicole, but he knew if he ignored her there would be more hell to pay.

As Nicole walked back to her car with her head down she accidentally bumped into somebody. She raised her head to see Ryan standing in front of her.

"Are you okay?"

Nicole laughed wiping the remaining tears from her face. "Don't act like you care." She pushed past him.

"Kel..." He stopped himself quickly remembering that Kelly wasn't her name any more. The anger that he felt about the fact that she had left him and lied to him for years came rushing back to him. She was right he didn't care for her any more. He walked up behind her and placed his arm around her waist pulling her against him.

"Your right I don't care and it seems neither does Jax. I mean he's leaving you here all alone, anything could happen to you. I guess your just going to have to be a little careful, I would hate for you to get hurt."

He moved away from her, leaving her shaking. He was walking back to the Clubhouse when saw Happy looking at him with a quizzical look on his face. He watched as his eyes moved slightly past him, Ryan gathered that he was looking at Nicole. He tried to compose himself and act casual as he walked past him. He managed to make it three steps past Happy before he heard his name being called.

"Ryan." He turned round to face Happy.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"What was that?"

"Sorry." Happy took an intimidating step closer to Ryan.

"You keep your distance from her."

"Look I don't know what you think you saw but..."

"Shut up and just do as your told little boy." Happy walked past him "I'll be watching" Ryan tuened to face Happy before he disappears into the Clubhouse.

Nicole was at her car she was trying to act normal as she knew there were many eyes that could be watching her. As she tried to stop her hands from shaking she dropped her keys. She bent down to pick them up when she noticed a pair of black biker boots next to her. She looked up and she felt her whole body relax when she saw Juice looking down at her. He held out his hand which she accepted. Helping her to her feet, she let herself fall against him. He hooked his finger under her chin lifting her head so that he could look at her.

"Hey what's a matter?"

"What are you doing here?"

"I heard about Jax. I figured that you would be upset, and by the looks of it I was right...You're shaking."

"He's ...he's here."

"Who, your ex?" Nicole nodded her head. Juices quickly scanned the parking lot "Where?"

"Clubhouse I think" Juice went to move towards there, but Nicole grabs his arm.

"Don't please I just want to go home. Please just take me home." She sobbed. He looked into her pleading eyes and knew that she needed him more, and the ass kicking he was going to give her ex would have to wait.

##########################

He gently nudged her, slowly she started to stir. "Hey...Hey sleepy head." Nicole's eyes fluttered open and she saws Juice kneeling in front of her.

"Hey did I..."

"Yeah you passed out a couple of hours ago, you looked so cute I didn't want to wake you." He smiled lovingly at her, she returned the same smile.

"So why are you waking me now?" She joked but then she saw the smile drop from his face. "What is it?"

"Clay called were meeting in 20 minutes. You can sta..."

"No I'm coming with you."

"What if he's there?" 

"He wont be this is club business."

########################

Juice entered the clubhouse with Nicole in tow. Everybody else was already around the table. He kissed her on her forehead before entering the Chapel. Nicole sank into the sofa as she waited for them to finish.

She sat there biting her nails, she felt nervous. She kept checking the clock they had been in the chapel for ages. She jumped when she heard the doors open. Jax was the first to leave the room, he stared at Nicole. Her eyes fell onto to his cut, where he was missing two important badges, instantly she knew that the decision had been made and Jax was leaving. There gaze only broke when everyone else started to leave Church. Jax dropped his gaze to the floor before leaving the clubhouse. Nicole got to her feet as Juice approaches her.

"I'm sorry I tried."

"What was the count?"

"7-1."

"Take it you were the one."

"Yeah, not that it made much difference."

"Thank you." She wrapped her arms around his waist.

Jax walked outside to find Tara waiting for him. She placed her hand on his face "Are you okay?" He nodded his head but she wasn't convinced.

"I have some vacation time coming up, why don't we just get away for a bit."

"Yeah." He hugged her tightly needing to feel her close to him. Gemma walked over and interrupted them. They both turn to face her.

"Mom it's done"

"Meet me at my house both of you. I have something I need to say."


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

Jax and Tara sat at the table in Clay and Gemma's house waiting for her to arrive. Jax lit another cigarette he was growing impatient of waiting. Finally they heard the door open. Nicole entered first, avoiding both Jax and Tara's eye contact. She lingered in the kitchen. Gemma shortly followed her inside, closely followed by Clay. Clay looked at Nicole who quickly diverted her gaze from his. He bowed his head and placed Jax's badges that he had ripped of his cut, onto the kitchen counter. Gemma looked around at her family knowing they were all being as stubborn as one another.

"Sit, Both of you." She orders to Clay and Nicole.

They quickly followed her orders. Nicole reluctantly took a seat next to Jax, neither one of them acknowledging one another. Clay took his usual seat at the head of the table.

Gemma shook her head as she watched the three of them ignore each other. This display made her certain that she was doing the right thing. Gemma took a seat opposite Nicole. Tara got up from her seat next to Jax and headed back to the kitchen, wanting to give them some space.

"You to sweetheart, you know what it is that I have to say." Tara looked at Gemma knowing what she was about, she ignored the three sets of eyes that she felt lingering on her. She keept her eyes focused on Gemma as she sat back down.

"What is this about?" Clay asked confused that his wife had asked for this meeting. Gemma looked down at the table as she tried to find the courage to say what she had to say.

"The night of Bobby's party, I didn't get into a car accident." Her voice was quiet. She looked between Jax, Clay and Nicole swallowing hard as she tried to continue.

"I...I was attacked." She didn't give anyone a chance to respond. She had to carry on, because if she stopped now she knew she wouldn't be able to carry on. "A mini van pulled up behind me as I waited at the junction. A...a girl got out she came running over to me, told me her baby was chocking... She was pretty convincing. When I went to help I saw it was a doll, then she hit me on the back of the head with a black jack or something. When I came to I was handcuffed to a chain link, in a utility house up by the access road."

Nicole placeed her hand over her mouth shocked by what she was hearing. She felt a warm hand on top of her other hand. She turned to see Jax looking at her, their eyes lingered for a second before they both looked back at Gemma, who was looking at them.

"They wore masks there was three of them. When...when he spoke to me I knew his voice and the tatt on his throat, I recognised it." She looked at Clay "It was Weston."

Clay scoffed at the sound of Weston's name, his body was overcome with rage. Nicole felt Jax squeeze her hand tightly before leaning back on his chair. She knew he was agitated, hell she was too.

"He told me to deliver a message to you." Clay looks back into his wife's eyes. "Stop selling guns to colour" His facial expression remained unchanged but his eyes grew sadder knowing that his wife had suffered because of him.

"Said if I didn't tell you they would find me and do this again." Gemma paused and looked towards Tara not knowing if she could say the next part. Tara nodded at her to encouraging her to continue.

"They... They raped me...all three of them... More than once."

Clay finally broke at her words, tears filled his eyes as he lowered his head feeling to guilty to look at her. Jax moves his hand away from Nicole's and slammed his fist against the table. Everybody jumped at this action.

He got up from his seat and walked round to Gemma's side. He grabbed both her hands into his and pulled them towards his face. He lightly kissed them, Gemma finally let a tear escape. He walked past Clay placing his hand on his shoulder, Clay placed his hand on top of his, they kept hold of each other for a second longer than normal, before finally letting go.

Nicole and Tara rose from their seats. Nicole looked at Gemma who was staring back at her. She tried to speak but she couldn't find the right words, to comfort her Aunt. Gemma nodded her head understanding that Nicole was struggling. They share a silent understanding. She felt Jax take hold of her arm, leading her towards the front door, wanting to give Clay and Gemma some alone time.

Tara followed them into the kitchen. As Nicole walked past the side unit she saw Jax's badges. She picked them up and handed them to Jax, which made him stop in his tracks. He took them from her hand and placed them into his pocket. He turned back to look at Clay. He was hugging Gemma tightly. In that moment he knew that he couldn't leave not now not ever.

###########################

Later that night Nicole was sitting at the kitchen table. She had a glass of vodka in one hand and a cigarette in the other. She was unable to sleep as her mind was doing overtime. She looked up when she heard footsteps entering the kitchen, she saw Tara standing in the doorway. Nicole looked back at her drink and finished what was left in the glass before she refilled it.

"Are you okay?" Tara asks with a soft tone.

"Oh yeah I'm just peachy."

"Sorry that was a stupid question." Nicole downed her drink before slamming her glass back onto the table.

"You should have told us, why the fuck didn't you?"

"I...I wanted to..."

"Bullshit you saw this as an opportunity."

"What?" Tara asks shocked.

"You knew Gemma hated you, hated you and Jax, so you used this to get close to her." Nicole stubbed out her cigarette before a smile appeared on her face "I have to give it though it really did work, you played it well."

"That's not fair" Tara tried defending herself. Nicole was now on her feet.

"FAIR... you want to talk about fair. You should have told us. For months we've let Zobelle and Weston roam free, because you thought you were doing the right thing it's fucking bullshit."

"I know your upset..."

"Fuck you Ta..."

"What the hell is going on?" Jax asked cutting off Nicole., His eyes were darting between the two women. He placed his hand on Tara's shoulder sensing she was upset.

"I was just telling your little girlfriend here that she should have told us. The shit that has happened the past couple of months, you lot going to jail, Auto getting jumped it all could have been avoided if she had just told us. It's all her fault."

"HEY, none of this is on fucking Tara." Jax shouted now standing in front of Tara hoping to protect her from Nicole's words.

"Whatever" Nicole pushed past him and went her room. Jax's eyes followed her before he looked back at Tara. He raised his hand to her face, wiping away a stray tear.

"I did want to tell you I swear." She sobbed.

"You did the right thing, keeping her secret you had no choice. Ignore Nic she's just in shock, we all are. When she cools off she'll understand that you did the right thing" Jax kissed her forehead.

"So...so are you going after Zobelle now."

"Yeah I'd do the same for you."

"You did." She kisses his lips tenderly, as she pulls away she gazed into his eyes before lowering her head.

"What?"

"I... I just can't help but wonder, your dad's manuscript, do you think he would think violence was the right answer."

"If Mom had gotten raped on his watch he would have written a whole different book." Jax ran his hand over her hair before walking away from her. He stopped by Nicole's room. She was smoking as she starred out of her bedroom window.

"Hey." Nicole turned to face him but she didn't speak. "This wasn't Tara's fault and you know that, you shouldn't blame her you need to apologise." As he left he slammed her bedroom door shut.

####################

The next morning after very little sleep Nicole decided to drag herself out of bed. She made her way into the kitchen, she was hoping to get a cup of coffee in peace, but she noticed that Tara was already in there. Nicole hesitated and was about to head back to her room when she decided that Jax was right she had to apologise to her even though she still felt Tara should have told her, but who was she to judge especially in her current situation.

"Hey T." Tara turned to face her placing her coffee back down on the unit.

"Hey."

"Look about last night."

"It doesn't matter."

"Yes it does T, I was in the wrong. I was just trying to deal and ended up taking it out on you and that wasn't fair."

"Don't worry Nic I understand." They smiled at each other.

"So shall we hug it out?" Nicole asked. Tara laughed before moving into hug her. They break away when they heard Jax's voice behind them.

"Glad to see you two have made up."

"Yes we have, and I suppose I owe you an apology as well."

"Don't even think about it." He hugged his cousin. As she pulled away from him Jax noticed something was missing. "Hey where's your necklace?"

Nicole quickly pulled her robe shut to hide her bare neck. "Um... I took it off..."

"I've never seen you take that thing off."

Jax knew how much that necklace meant to her. The ring that was attached to it was her mother's wedding ring it was they only thing she had left of her. It was also the one time that her Dad had shown her compassion after her mothers death. One day he came home with a grit wrapped box and when Nicole opened it she was so happy to see the necklace with her mothers ring hanging from it. That was the last time her and her Dad shared a loving moment, after that he began hitting the bottle harder and he became more and more bitter and angry, that's when John took her in. Not long after that her Dad died. So Jax knew that necklace and what it symbolised was her most treasured possession, she would never let it out of her sight.

"The um...th.. the clasp broke, I'm waiting to get it fixed." She pushed past him and walked to her room not letting him respond.

"Jax everything okay with her?"

"Honestly I'm not sure, but I'm going to find out."

#########################

Once they were both ready Jax and Nicole head to see Gemma. Jax had asked Tara to join them but she had refused saying that he and Nicole needed to do this by themselves. As they arrived, they were greeted by Clay. Nicole threw her arms around his neck and pulling him into a hug, which he responded to. This was the closet they had been in weeks, and Clay wanted to absorb every second of it.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered into his ear before letting go. "Where is she?"

"In her room."

"Can I go..."

"Yeah she would like that." This time Clay placed a kissed on her forehead. Nicole's looked back at them before going to see Gemma.

Jax and Clay waited until she was out of ear shot before they started talking. Clay turned to Jax, sorrow and guilt overtaking them both.

"I'm sorry son."

"So am I."

"What they did to your Mom..." Jax cut him off.

"I know." Jax shook his head in disapproval. "This retaliation needs to be smart, considering we have the Feds in town." Clay looked at Jax with pleading eyes.

"I can't do this without you."

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Good. How do you want to handle this?"

"We kill them all." Jax stated. Clay nodded in agreement.

##########################

Meanwhile Nicole slowly made her way into Gemma's bedroom, as she carefully opened the door she saw Gemma lying in bed. She was leaning on her side, from Nicole's angle she looked a million miles away. Walking further into her room she coughed lightly to try and gain Gemma's attention. Gemma turned to see her young niece watching over her.

"Hey Baby." Gemma croaked in a sleepy voice.

"Hey." Nicole walked closer taking a seat at the end of her bed, not wanting to invade her space.

"What are you doing all the way over there." Gemma motioned her to move closer. Nicole saw the need in her eyes and went towards her. Gemma placed an arm around her.

"I'm so sorry Aunt Gemma."

"You have nothing to be sorry for baby."

"You really are the strongest person I know, how you've..." Nicole stopped herself as she started to become overwhelmed with emotion.

"You are just as strong as I am sweetheart, and you're going to have to be" Nicole raiseed her head so she could look at Gemma properly.

"What?"

"Clay and Jax, you're going to have to look after them. This will screw with them, you need to make sure they stay safe. They will both need you now."

"What are you talking about, they love you your..."

"No. I'm damaged, I'm the victim now. They will look to you instead of me."

"That's bull Aunt Gemma."

"It's not and you know it. So please just promise me you will watch out for them."

Nicole saw the tears welling in Gemma's eyes, she knew that her words were heart felt. She kissed her on the cheek, before thugging her tightly. Nicole slowly pulled herself off Gemma's bed. Before she left Nicole promised her that she would do what she had asked. Nicole joined Clay and Jax.

"How is she?" Jax asked looking up from his cup of coffee.

"Okay I suppose considering. So what's the plan?"

"What?" Clay asked.

"The plan how are we going to handle this?"

"Your not handling anything, me and Jax have this covered."

"No your not pushing me off this. I deserve revenge as much as you do."

"No...No I'm not putting you in danger."

"You won't be." Clay's eyes left her and fell onto Jax.

"Your decision." Nicole was now looking at to. Jax's eyes moved between them.

"Your right were not going to push you off this. You deserve to have revenge too." Nicole hugged him.

"Thank you." He embraced her for a second before pushing her away lightly so that he could look at her.

"But you have to do what we say, if we tell you to hold back, run or hide you do just that okay."

"I promise."

"Right come on then lets get to the clubhouse the guys are probably wondering what the hell is going on." Clay interjected.

############################

Everybody was already in the clubhouse. Bobby and Opie were playing pool Chibs and Piney were sitting next to Ryan as they watched the game on the small T.V. And Happy and Juice were at the bar.

Happy could see that Juice's whole attention was focused on Ryan.

"You don't like him." Happy finally gained Juice's attention. Juice looked at him confused, so Happy repeated himself "You don't like him do you?"

"What makes you say that?"

"By the look on your face. You look like you want to rip him from limb to limb."

"I don't." Juice replied defensively.

"Trust me I know that look. So are you going to tell me why you want to kill him not that I'm gonna stop you."

"I just don't like the guy and I don't even know why he is still hanging around here his bike has been fixed for a couple of days now." Juice paused looking away from Ryan and back at Happy. "So why wouldn't you stop me?"

"You know me love a good bar fight."

"Is that the only reason?" Happy was about to answer when he saw Clay enter the room.

Everyone was looking at Clay, they were all confused by him calling this early meet, but they got more confused when they saw Nicole and Jax following him inside. Nicole was holding tightly onto Jax's hand. Everyone could tell that something serious was going on but no one had any idea what.

Ryan swallowed hard as he looked at the serious expressions on Jax and Clay's face for a spilt second he wondered if she had told them but he quickly realised that he wouldn't be in one piece if they knew.

"Everyone gather round the table." Clay ordered. They all headed to their usual seat at the table. Clay grabbed Nicole's other hand and led her towards the table. Ryan went to walk past Clay.

"Where are you going?" Clay asked him.

"You're having a meet so thought I'd leave you to it." Clay shook his head.

"No you might as well join us we are going to need as much help as we can get. So take a seat." Ryan looked at Nicole wondering what her reaction would be. He was shocked to she that she was nodding in agreement.

"Okay." Ryan and Nicole took an available seat just away from the table. While Jax and Clay sat the in two spare seats around the table.

"What is he doing here?" Happy asked looking at both Nicole and Ryan.

"Because I asked him to." Clay told him.

"So I take it this meeting has something to do with them badges being back on your cut." Bobby noted pointing to the badges on Jax's cut.

"Yeah... I'm not going Nomad."

"That's good to hear Jacky boy" Chibs nodded in Jax's direction.

"No offence to you Nicole but I agree with Happy what are they doing in here." Piney asked knowing that something wasn't right, never had a Lady been allowed at Church.

"Just listen up." Jax ordered as he glanced at Nicole before looking at Clay.

Clay took a deep breath before starting, he wasn't sure how to say this so he decided to just come out with it, talk quick and get it over with just like ripping off a band aid.

"The night of Bobby's party, Gemma never drove into a barricade. She was jumped. Three of Zobelle's crew took her to a warehouse where they gave her a message to deliver. Stop selling guns to colour."

Clay stopped as he struggled to find strength to finish what he had to say. "They raped her." He turns away from everybody.

Everyone was silenced as they tried to figure out what to do or say for the best. Nicole stared at her feet. She had to stop her tears from falling she couldn't cry she wasn't the victim here Gemma was and she needed to be strong for her, and crying like a baby wasn't what she needed. Ryan sensed that she was upset, and placed his hand on top of hers which was resting on her thigh. She turned to look at him they stared at each other for a second but it seemed like an eternity. For the first time in a long time she saw real compassion in his eyes. She quickly turned away from him also pulling away her hand from beneath his, she couldn't do this.

"Jesus Clay I'm so sorry man." Tig responds.

"One of them was Weston." Jax added.

"What do we do?" Opie spoke quietly.

"We get bloody and then we rip their heads off." Chibs suggested, everybody agreed.

"NO." Clay shouted over their cries. Everybody looked at Clay. Chibs turned to face Jax looking for answers. Jax noticed this and started to explain.

"We ain't ever seen an assault like this before, and as much as I would love to rip out their hearts, a show of force will just see us back in jail and we will be no good locked up. We have to do what they have been doing, find their weakness, unravel them."

"Till then nobody reacts. You see Zobelle or Weston any of them, you swallow the urge to kill them. Just walk on, you understand." Clay finished off. Everybody reluctantly agreed.

"Good. Next thing, we need to get our hands on some guns, cupboards are bear." Jax said. "We are all going to have to tap into our personal stock."

Clay banged the gravel signalling the end of the meet. He got from his seat and exited the room. Ryan quickly following him, but instead of lingering in the bar he headed straight outside and jumped on his bike, speeding out of the parking lot.

####################

Ryan pulled up outside Zobelle's shop, he was about to enter when he saw who he was looking for. He ran towards Weston and dragged him down the nearby ally.

"What the hell man?" Ryan grabbed Weston's shirt and pinning him against the wall.

"You sick bastard." Ryan spat through gritted teeth. "I know what you did."

"What are you talking about?" Weston tried to struggle free from his grasp, but Ryan was stronger.

"Rape. You and your guys raped her, it's sick." Ryan pulled him off the wall before slamming him back against it. Weston started laughing, which made Ryan even more annoyed.

"What are you laughing at?"

"YOU." Ryan frowned at him not understanding. "You stand there thinking your better than me, when really were exactly the same."

"I'm nothing like you."

"I know what you did to your little girlfriend, how you beat her, put her in Hospital a couple of times didn't you. So don't you dare think your better than me." Ryan loosened his grip on Weston allowing him to get free. Ryan stood there in silence.

"See you and me, were alike. I'm not judging you I've seen your girl she looks like she needs keeping in lin..." Ryan punched Weston sending him falling to the floor.

"Don't you talk about her. This deal we have it's over, I'm done."

"Fine your out of our arrangement but don't think it's going to be without repercussions, you know what were capable of." Ryan lowered himself to Weston's side.

"You touch her go after her, I swear it will be the last thing you ever do." Weston laughed, Ryan shook his head. "You know who I am, what I have done so you know what I'm capable of so before you start plotting your revenge you just think about that." Ryan walked away leaving Weston lying on the ground.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Back at Teller/ Morrow everyone started arriving with their guns. Clay and Bobby were sifting through the guns when Juice appeared, dropping of his guns. Bobby started unloading his stock.

"Sorry it ain't much." Juice apologised.

"Every bit helps man." Bobby replied. Clay looked at the pitiful mount of guns in front of him.

"This isn't enough. Zobelle has enough automatic weapons to suppress a third world coo. We can't go after him with handguns, a couple of AK's and hunting guns. We need more." Clay told them.

Ryan entered the room and dropped a duffel bag onto the floor, gaining their attention. Juice threw him a deadly glare. Clay looked from Ryan to the duffel bag and then back at Ryan.

"Open it." Ryan ordered to Clay. Clay opened the bag and was shocked to see it full with all different types of guns.

"Where did you get these?" Juice snapped but Ryan ignored him.

"There all yours Clay, I hope it helps." 

"Thank you this is a big help" Clay thanked Ryan. Juice laughed but it wasn't a humorous laugh. Ryan turned to face him.

"You got a problem man just say it." Ryan snapped.

"Yeah I got a problem, you. Your not welcome here."

"What?"

"You heard." 

"And why is that?" Juice stepped closer to Ryan.

"You know why." They stared at one another neither one of them blinking. In that moment Ryan knew exactly what Juice's problem was, he knew. They broke their stare when Clay grabbed both their attention.

"What the hell is going on between you two?" Clay was annoyed by their bickering. Neither one of them answered Clay, but they didn't have to, he soon gets his answer when Nicole walked into the room. She stopped in the door way just in between Ryan and Juice. Clay noticed that both men were looking at her and her eyes were bouncing from Ryan to Juice and back again. In that moment he knew that his niece was the cause for the tension between these two men. Bobby and Clay exchanged looks,it seemed that Bobby had also caught on to the issue between the men.

"Everything okay Princess?" Clay asked quickly diverting her attention away from Ryan and Juice.

"Yeah just wanted to see how everything was going. Everything okay here?" Nicole didn't like how close Ryan and Juice were.

"Yeah, Ryan here was just dropping off his stash."

Nicole looked to the floor and recognised the duffel bag. They were the guns she had accidentally stolen from him, and now he was giving them to Clay. She looked up at Ryan, he looked straight back at her. Juice noticed this and he saw a look in her eyes that he hadn't seen in her eyes before, Juice didn't like it. Ryan to seemed uncomfortable by her gaze and quickly excused himself from the room. Silence fell upon the room, Nicole avoiding Juice's gaze.

"So do you need me to do anything?" She looked at Clay, and then behind her where Ryan had just left.

"No Princess I think us three have it covered."

"Okay" She threw a pitiful smile to them all before leaving.

She quickened her pace as she headed outside. Her eyes scanned around the lot and that's when she saw him existing the parking lot on his bike. She took a seat on the picnic bench behind her. She let herself get lost in her thoughts.

Tig was sitting on his bike watching Nicole as she sat on the bench, he noticed how lost and sad she looked. He hated that she had been brought into his mistake. But not only that his mistake was destroying her family, It was his mistake that was ripping Clay and Jax apart and causing her hurt. His whole life he had protected her, treated her like his own but now he was the one who was hurting her, and that killed him.

He pushed himself off his bike and walked towards her. Tig didn't say anything at first, he just placed his hand softly on her face. Nicole was more than a little taken aback by his action, but as she looked into his eyes she saw nothing but regret and sadness. This unsettled her.

"Tig are..."

"I'm sorry baby, I'm sorry for Gemma, Jax, Clay all that shit but mostly I'm sorry for hurting you."

Nicole looked at him in shock, this was the first time that she had heard him speak this way, it made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She desperately wanted to speak but she couldn't say anything. He kissed her on the lips, before walking away.

Tig saw Opie across the yard working on his bike, he made his way toward him. "Hey Ope, the bike looks good, you need a hand?"

"Nah, I'm all good." Opie looked at Tig, he didn't know what why but he could sense there was something wrong with him.

"Al'right...awful thing with Gemma."

"Yeah...You okay man?" Tig nodded, he went to walk away but changed his mind and turned back to face Opie.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"The night Donna was killed, why...why was she in the truck?"

"I was taking the kids home, needed the back seat. Why are you asking me this?" Suspicion was growing inside Opie, and he didn't like where it was leading.

"She wasn't supposed to be in the truck Ope."

Sadness filled Tig's eyes. Opie noticed this and without having to think about it any more Ope knew what Tig was saying. He lunged himself at Tig, slamming him into the truck behind him. He clenched his fist and punched him in his face hard, he repeated this a couple of times, Tig didn't even try to defend himself, he knew he deserved this if not worse.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?" Opie shouted.

Nicole turned in her seat when she heard Opie shouting. She saw that he had Tig pinned against the truck. She felt sick to her stomach, she knew that Opie knew about Donna. She got to her feet and started running towards them. She pulled out her cell and called Clay.

"Hey Princ..." 

"Get outside NOW." She hung up and continued to run towards Opie.

Clay looked at his cell for a second before looking up at Juice and Bobby/ "Something's wrong"

He ran out the Clubhouse, Juice and Bobby hot on his heels. As he got outside he searched the parking lot until he found who he was looking for. He sees Nicole trying to break up Tig and Opie, he quickly moved towards the commotion.

"Opie stop ….OPIE." Nicole pleaded, but Opie didn't listen to her, instead he continued to beat on Tig.

"It was Stahl Ope." Tig mumbled half conscience.

"Shut up Tig." Nicole shouted as she tried to get between him and Opie.

"Me and Clay..." Tig started.

"I came clean to Clay we were good." Opie said. Nicole grabbed hold of Opie's raised fist but he pushed her away. She looked around to see if she could see Clay but there was no sign.

"We found wires in your truck and cell. Stahl made you a rat... you were supposed to be in the truck man...It's all on Stahl."

Opie looked at him shocked by his revelation. Nicole took full advantage of this and got inbetween them. She looked up at Opie.

"Ope don't do this." She pleaded. 

"I'm sorry Ope." Tig cried. Opie tried to push past Nicole to get to him but she wouldn't let him.

"Nic, he killed Donna."

"I know he did, I know but he isn't worth it." Opie looked at her and it was then she realised what she had said. Opie grabbed hold of her wrist tightly as he drew her closer to him.

"YOU KNEW...YOU KNEW?"

Jax drove into the parking lot, he saw Clay, Juice and Bobby running towards Opie. Tig was lying on the ground in a bloody mess, but this didn't bother him what did was that Opie had hold of Nicole. He raced over.

"I'm sorry...I ...I only just found out" She told even though she knew it wouldn't make a difference. She had betrayed him.

"Your just as bad as he is." He pushed her to the floor next to Tig just as Jax and the others arrived.

"What the hell Ope?" Jax squared up to him. Opie looked at Clay before he stormed away, pushing his way through them. 

"OPIE." Jax shouted but Opie ignored him. Opie got on his bike and drive away. Jax looked at Tig, as he helped Nicole to her feet.

"Juice call Tara she's at my house." Jax ordered. Even though he wasn't about to help him up he knew Tig was in bad shape.

"What the hell is going on?" Clay asked to no one in particular.

Nicole moved away from Jax as she bent down to help a semi conscious Tig to his feet.

"What did you say to him?" Clay asked Tig, when he was on his feet.

"I don't know who I am any more."

"What are you talking about?" Clay was baffled by Tig's response.

"What do you think Clay?" Nicole snapped at him.

"Donna." Jax stated.

"I had to tell him ….. I had to tell him I killed Donna."

Bobby looked around and realised that he seemed to be the only one who was shocked by what Tig has just said, everyone apart from Juice.

"Let's get you to the Clubhouse." Nicole walked past everyone as she helped Tig to the clubhouse. She saw the look on Bobby's face but ignored it. "Jay you should go find Ope, he knows about Stahl."

"Shit."

######################

Tara came to the clubhouse 20 minutes after Juice had called her. She didn't have to ask who need her attention. Tig was sprawled on the leather sofa, his face bloody and bruised. Nicole was kneeling beside him dabbing his injures with a flannel.

"So what happened?"

"Him and Ope just had a disagreement" Nicole said, not allowing Tig to answer. Tara looked up at her but Nicole gave nothing away.

"Right if your okay here I'm gonna help Jay."

"Yeah I think were good, the injures don't look to serious."

Without another word Nicole ledt, as she was leaving she saw Bobby and Clay huddled around the table, she gathered Clay was probably filling Bobby in on what had happened, and her guess was that Bobby wasn't going to be happy.

Clay had told Bobby everything and now he was just looking at Clay, until he finally found the words.

"I know sometime that you have to make executive decisions, I get that you earned it, but if word gets out to our crew, other charters that one of the founding nine put a hit out on a brother but it actually landed on his old lady. That would be some very bad PR brother, we've got to keep this to the few that know."

"I know that. But I need you to understand that this was a mistake, I never meant for Donna..."

"Yeah I get it. So who knows?"

"Piney, Jax Gemma and.."

"And Nicole"

"Yeah."

"How the hell did she get caught up in this."

"I tried to keep her out of this, but Jax told her."

"You were shocked by that. You should have known that as soon as she came back he was going to tell her."

"I know. Look I'll try and get Opie to sit down with us."

"That's if Jax finds up before he does something stupid."

"Yeah."

######################

Jax came back to the clubhouse, he still hadn't managed to find Opie. There was only one place he had to check and that was Opie's dorm. As he approached the room he could hear movement coming from inside. He made a quick call before he entered.

"Hey."

"Don't worry I didn't do anything stupid, I didn't kill her." Opie said as he sat on the edge of his bed. Jax took the chair opposite him.

"The rift between you and Clay, you knew about Donna the whole time."

"I couldn't tell you man, her getting killed was bad enough, you knowing this..."

"Yeah." Tears filled his eyes. "What do I do Jax. Clay and Tig how the hell am I meant to share a patch with them."

"The burden lands on the club, we made Clay what he is."

"How do we unmake him?"

"I've been trying to figure that out, and the only thing I know for sure is that I can't do this alone."

Opie raised to his feet "I'm here for you man." Jax got to his feet, the two of them share a manly hug.

Nicole entered the clubhouse with Clay, Bobby and Tig. "So Jay said he was here in his room. Give me a minute then I'll bring him out okay."

Clay agreed and Nicole headed towards Opie's room. She quietly made her way inside. She saw the two men hugging.

"I'm glad to see everything okay." The two men pull away from each other at the sound of her voice.

"Nic."

"Ope."

"I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry." They said in unison.

"No Ope I'm sorry I should have told you."

"I understand why you didn't. I'm sorry I shouldn't have pushed you." Nicole placed her hand up to stop him.

"How about we call it a truce, and concentrate on how to we are going to deal with this, together as a family."

"Sounds good to me."

"And me." Jax added. Nicole gave Opie a big hug. She went to pull away but he pulled her back. Nicole grabbed Jax's hand and pulled him into the hug.

"Look I hate to break this up but Clay is waiting for you, he wants to talk. But if you don't..." 

"No it's okay Nic,I'll talk to him."

######################

Once everybody was settled around the table, Opie kicked things off. "This club killed my wife, how do we make that right?"

"We really do want to make this right." Clay said.

"Me too. That's why I've decided to stay."

"That good to hear, real good." 

"I don't want anyone knowing my business. It wont help anyone if this gets out. This secret dies here right now."

"We understand."

#########################

Nicole waited in the bar for the guys to finish. She sat enjoying the silence, it was giving her a chance to think. The silence of the room was disrupted when she heard a door open, only it was the door she was hoping for. Nicole leant back on her chair so she could see who was entering the clubhouse. She saw Ryan. HE looked at her for a second before he spoke.

"I'm sorry I'll leave you alone." Ryan turned on his heels but Nicole stopped him.

"Wait...Ryan" She jumped off her bar stool and went over to him. "Why did you do that?" 

"Do what?"

"Give Clay your guns."

"Because he needed them, you needed them."

Neither of them knew what to say next. Ryan moved closer towards her until there was barely a gap between them. Nicole swallowed hard, she could feel his breath tickling her face. She finally allowed herself to look him in the eyes, she felt her stomach flip.

"Thank you." She whispered.

She places her hand on his chest she could feel his heart beating faster and faster. Following her lead he placed his hand on her face gently running his finger along her jaw line, until letting his finger rest on her soft rosy pink lips. He lower his head, wanting to kiss her, but she pulled away from him when she heard the clubhouse door open. Seeing Tara and Lyla, Nicole increased the gap between herself and Ryan. Ryan looked behind him before he made his excuses and left.

Tara followed him out with her eyes before letting them rest on Nicole. She fidgeted underneath Tara's gaze. Tara was about to question her when the guys came out of Church. Nicole had never been so thankful to see them. She quickly made her own excuses and left. Tara had a good idea what was going and she wasn't happy, not because of Nicole and Ryan she wasn't happy because she knew she would have to tell Jax and she knew he was not going to take this well.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

The next morning Nicole reluctantly dragged herself out of her bed, she grabbed her robe wrapping it around her tightly. She stumbled into the kitchen where she plops herself into the available seat next to Jax, once she was seated she let her head fall onto the table. Jax started to chuckle to himself.

"You okay?"

"Coffee, I need Coffee" She replied to Tara as she slowly and gently raised her head to look at Jax. Tara handed her a cup. "Thanks... Do you have to laugh so loud?" She snapped at her smug cousin.

"Hey don't snap at me it's not my fault your head hurts."

"Actually yes it is, it's all your fault. And talking of bad heads why don't you have one." She took a big sip of her coffee before taking a couple of Aspirins that Tara gave her.

"Years of experience sweetheart. Plus I didn't polish of almost an entire bottle of Tequila to myself."

"Good Point."

She let her head fall back onto the table at the thought of Tequila. Last night Jax thought that Opie shouldn't be alone a thought that Nicole agreed with. So to keep him company they did what they always did in situations like these, they drank. Which always meant one thing, Nicole got wasted. And right now she was suffering the consequences of trying to keep up with two men. Tara put down a cooked breakfast in front of Jax, who instantly started eating it up. Tara noticed Nicole looking at it.

"You want one?"

"God no, the smell alone is making me wanna hurl." Jax started to laugh at her again.

"I'll take this is the bedroom." He said.

"No it's okay, I'm going to go for a shower, try and wake myself up." Nicole headed to the bathroom. Tara took her seat.

"Bless her. So it was a good night then?"

"Yeah just what we needed, all of us."

"Is Opie okay now?"

"He will be." Tara wondered if should push Jax. Looking behind at the bathroom where Nicole had disappeared to she knew she had to ask.

"And Nicole how is she?" Jax stopped eating his breakfast and looked at Tara

"What do you mean?" She didn't answer. "Tara if you know something about Nic then..." 

"I don't know anything not for sure anyway" Jax looked at her waiting for her to continue, which she did. "Do you remember the night of the Rap party at Cara Cara?"

"What about it?"

"Nicole mentioned something about her ex, I don't think she meant to it just kind of came out and then last nig..."

"Tara do you have a point?" Jax interrupted growing annoyed with her babbling.

"She told me her ex was a biker, but when I asked her if he was the one who hit her she clammed up. I didn't think any more about it. But last night..." 

"What happened last night?" Jax's whole body was tense, his jaw flexing.

"Last night when I came to the Clubhouse I saw her and that Ryan together/"

"Together how?"

"Well they were standing close and it was obvious that I had interrupted something. It was weird Jax."

"So what you're trying to say is you think Ryan is her ex."

"Yeah." They sat in silence. Jax running his fingers through his hair as he thought about what Tara had just told him.

"No...no he can't be, doesn't make sense Nic would have said something" Jax was now on his feet pacing around the kitchen.

"Think about Jax it makes nothing but sense."

"No."

"Why are you denying this?" Jax turned to face Tara.

"Because...because I can't believe that I have let him be around her for weeks. He's been able to get to her and I've done nothing, she's said nothing. I can't believe it I just can't" Tara was now at his side, she placed a hand on his shoulder pulling him into a hug.

"You have to ask, it's the only way to know for sure." She whispered in his ear.

"I know, I just don't know how."

################################

Later that day Nicole and Jax were following Weston. All day he had wanted to ask her but he couldn't find the words. They sat in silence as they watched Zobelle and Weston talking. They watched as Zobelle left his right hand man at the side of the road. Weston looked mad, he stormed towards his own car. Jax and Nicole ducked as Weston drove past them. Once he had passed them Jax followed Zobelle. They pulled up across the street where they saw Zobelle meeting with Alvarez.

"Holy shit."

"Yeap." Nicole agreed.

There was another moments silence which was broken by the sound of Nicole's cell ringing. She looked at the screen checking the caller ID before cancelling the call. Jax looked at her quickly growing suspicious.

"Your popular today that's like the fourth call you've hung up on."

"It's no one." She noticed the worrying look on his face. "Seriously Jay it's fine. Anyway haven't we got more pressing issues?"

She pointed over to Zobelle who was coming out of the shop. They watched as two of Zobelle's guys loaded two bags into his car, they were bags that they didn't have before. Nicole and Jax looked at each other, both realising that they had finally got something on Zobelle.

"We need to take this back to Clay" Nicole said. Jax agreed.

########################

The journey back to Teller/Morrow was quiet. Jax was to busy to talk as he was having a private argument in his head. One half of him was telling him to just come right out and ask her and then give Ryan the beating of his life, but the other side of him was telling him that Tara was overreacting and Ryan was just a normal guy and there was nothing going on between him and his baby cousin.

If Nicole hadn't been preoccupied herself she would have noticed that Jax had something on his mind, and made him tell her what was wrong. But right now she was having her own private battle. The silence was only broken when they pulled into the parking lot at Teller/Morrow.

"Im gonna find Clay."

Jax doesn't wait for a response, he left the van and went straight over to the clubhouse leaving Nicole sitting alone in the SUV. Normally she would have been pissed at this, but this time she was thankful. Once she saw that Jax had entered the clubhouse she pulled out her cell, calling the person who had been desperately trying to get hold of her all morning.

"God dam Baby girl I'm glad to hear your voice, I've been going mad."

"I'm so sorry to worry you Jury, I've been with Jay all morning I haven't had a chance until now."

"I'm just glad your okay"

"Yeah I'm good so what's up?" 

"I've got the money."

"What, are you serious?" 

"Yeah I have it, all of it. I just wanted to know how were going to this." Nicole paused for a second why she tried to think. "Nicole...you still there?"

"Um...yeah still here. Look I'll come to you."

"It's about a 6 hou..."

"I don't care I can't have you coming around here. I'm going to leave right now." 

"At least let me meet you halfway"

"I'll call you later/"

Nicole hung up and jumped out of the SUV. She headed over to her car that was already parked in the lot. On her way she bumped into Juice. He steadied her as she almost fell.

"Hey slow down." He joked.

"Sorry." Juice realised that she looked flustered.

"Everything okay?" She tried to release herself from his grasp but Juice didn't allow it. "Nicole."

"Look I'm fine but I need you to cover for me."

"What do you want me to do?"

"If anyone asks where I am will you tell them you've seen me and that I'm okay."

"Why where are you..."

"It doesn't matter but please, can you do this for me?"

"Okay." She kissed him on the lips before running to her car. He watched as she left, he was feeling uneasy about the situation.

####################

Clay finally gathered everyone around the table. Jax filled everyone in about what him and Nicole had seen. Everyone was shocked to find out that Zobelle was in bed with the Mayans. They all agreed that they could use this information to unravel Zobelle and Weston. One by one they left the room, while a lot them headed out of the clubhouse to continue what they were doing before the emergency meet had been called, Jax took a seat at the bar.

The weight that he was carrying on his shoulders was becoming too much and he was finally starting to feel the strain. He rubbed his hand over his tired face, as thoughts continued to flow through his head. Happy was going to leave when he saw Jax at the bar he could tell something wasn't right with him, he made his way over to him and took the available seat next to him.

"You okay man?" Jax turned to face the gravely voice that had interrupted his thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm good."

"Bullshit. I know your going through a lot man this whole thing with Gemma, it's gotta..." Happy stopped mid sentence as Jax's eyes left him and landed on Ryan who had just entered the room. As he walked past Ryan nodded his head at both Jax and Happy before disappearing down the corridor to his room. Jax eyes lingered on where Ryan had just disappeared, he could feel his blood starting to boil.

"What do you think of him?" Jax asked, lookin back at Happy.

"Who Ryan?" 

"Yeah."

"Don't trust him." Happy stated bluntly.

"Why?" Happy paused for a moment. "Hap what is it? Tell me man."

"Well didn't want to say anything what with all the shit going, and I've been keeping an eye..."

"Hap."

"I saw him with Nic." Happy looked at Jax's confused expression. " It looked heated, but when I questioned him he said it was nothing and I've been keeping an eye on him and her and I haven't seen anything else happen." Happy sat silently waiting for a response from Jax, it took a while but finally he spoke.

"Do me a favour keep watching him, and let me know if he goes near Nic." Jax stood and looked at Happy. "This is just between you and me."

##############################

The next morning Tara started packing all her medical equipment into her car ready for lockdown at Teller/Morrow. Clay had decided that if they were going to start unravelling Zobelle and Weston then he wanted to make sure that everybody's loved ones were safe, as he didn't want anyone else getting hurt on his watch. Jax came out the house carrying Abel, he handed him to Tara so she could put him into the baby seat. Once Abel was safety in the car Tara looked at Jax.

"Jax."

"Mom just called she said she'll meet us there she's just getting food and drink supplies."

"So did you ask?" Jax looked at her pretending not to know what she was on about.

"Ask what?"

"Cute Jax, did you ask her if she had seen Nicole."

"Didn't want to worry her."

"Nic will be fine." 

"No matter how many times you say that Tara, it ain't going to stop me from worrying about her."

"You really think she runaway?"

"It's what she does." He slammed the trunk shut and stormed back into the house.

############################

Nicole wound her window down hoping that the breeze would help keep herself awake. She had been on the road for nearly 12 hours if not longer. She didn't care though she got what she needed. She looked to the back seat sparing a look at the duffel bag, a smile formed on her face. That bag or more what was inside were the answers to all her problems.

She couldn't wait to hand the money over to Ryan and watch him leave. The money couldn't have come at a better time, because she was worried that her feelings for him might start to cloud her judgement and she couldn't afford that happen. Another thing she was sure of was that if Ryan didn't hurt then Jax was going to kill her. Her cell had died halfway to Nevada and she knew that he would be going mad that he couldn't get hold of her especially with everything that was going on.

She took a deep breath as she saw the sign, 20 miles to Charming, it would take her about 20-25 minutes to get home and all she wanted to do when she got home was crash but she knew that wouldn't be possible for two reasons. One she really wanted to get this whole thing over and done with Ryan, secondly she knew she would have to deal with the raft of Jax which was never pretty.

###########################

As Jax pulled into Teller/Morrow Juice came running over to him. Jax got out the car first leaving Tara to look after Abel. He nodded towards Juice.

"Everyone's in."

"What Nic's here"

"No man, I thought she was with you?"

Juice was annoyed with himself he knew he shouldn't have let her go wherever it was she was going without him, it wasn't safe. Jax didn't answer his question as he didn't know what to say because he didn't have a clue where she was or if she was okay and that scared him.

"Where's Clay?"

"Inside."

Jax walked into the clubhouse heading straight for Clay who was in Church assembling the guns with Tig and Ryan.

"What is it?" Clay asked noticing the look on Jax's face. Jax quickly adverted his gaze from Ryan.

"We've got a problem."

"What now?" Clay ran a hand over his face.

"It's Nic, she's missing." His eyes fell back onto Ryan.

"What do you mean missing?" Jax walked closer to Ryan.

"I mean she didn't come home yesterday and I can't get hold of her." The gap between Ryan and Jax was almost non existence. Clay and Tig exchange looks both confused by what was happening.

"Sorry Jax am I missing something" Ryan questioned Jax who was now standing just inches away from him. Jax was about to tell him exactly what his problem was, but he was cut off when he cell rang.

"Hello." Jax answered his phone but continued to stare at Ryan. 

"Jay it's me."

"Where the hel..."

"I know I'm sorry, but don't worry I'm okay."

"Where are you?"

"I'm at your house, where is everyone?"

"Were on lockdown at Teller/Morrow." 

"Okay I'll grab my stuff and I'll come over."

"Yeah pack and a bag, but stay where you are I'll come and get you. Don't go out or answer the door to anyone until I'm there."

"Okay. Jay I'm sorry." 

"We'll talk about this later." Jax hung up. During the call he had increased the distance between himself and Ryan. He turned to face Clay who was now by his side.

"That Nicole?" 

"Yeah she's fine she's at mine. I'm gonna go get her." Jax came to a stop as Clay grabbed his arm.

"No we need to talk." Clay looks back at Ryan "You go." Ryan looked from Clay to Jax who was staring back at him, anger written all over his face.

"I...don't...maybe...someone else should go." Ryan stuttered.

"Yeah send some one else." Jax looked back at Clay.

"There isn't anyone else, Ryan you go get my Niece." There was a silence "Now." Ryan did as he was instructed.

Clay releases his grip on Jax and places his hand on Ryan as he passed by him. "You bring her back safe understand." Ryan nodded before scurrying out of the room. Once Ryan was out of sight Clay turned back to face Jax.

"What was that?"

"What?"

"You got beef with Ryan?" Tig asked from behind Clay.

"No." Jax lied.

"Good because we have enough things to deal with at the moment and don't need any more shit on our plate. So what ever is going on between you two, sort it or ignore it, I don't care which just don't let it pull your focus from what's really important." Clay told him harshly.

"Fine, we done here?"

"I guess." Clay shrugged.

"Where's Happy?"

"I don't kn.."

"He's outside with Ope." Tig cuts in.

Jax quickly located Happy and Opie. They were in the workshop working on Opie's bike. They turn to face Jax as he made his presence known.

"You got a sec?" Jax asked looking straight at Happy.

"Sure." Happy answered. Opie looked between the pair and got the hint that he should leave.

"I'm just gonna...I've gotta" He stammered before walking out of the workshop leaving Jax and Happy alone.

"What's up?"

"I kinda just squared up to Ryan in front of Clay and Tig." 

"What happened?" 

"Well I thought the reason she was missing had something to do with Ryan"

"Bro, I told you I followed him all day he went nowhere near her." Happy reminded him as he wiped his dirty hands on an old rag. 

"I know, I just couldn't help myself."

"What did Clay say?" 

"Not a lot, told me to keep my head in the game."

"So you didn't tell him about Ryan." Jax shook his head as he leaned against the truck in the next bay. "See this is the problem with you lot, secrets."

"What?" Jax snapped defensively.

"I get it your all doing it to protect each other but it causes shit man." Jax again said nothing. "So where's Ryan now?"

"Clay sent him to go and get Nicole."

"You're joking. See lies cause shit. You want me to go to your house?" J

"I don't know man, maybe were wrong."

"And maybe were not."

"Clay ordered him to bring her back here safely. If he is her ex then he hasn't done anything stupid yet, and bringing her back hurt would be one hell of a fucking mistake." 

"So what we just wait and see what condition he brings her back in?" Happy didn't like the sound of that.

"I'll give them an hour, if she ain't here in one hour completely unharmed then we go get him."

"And we kill him."

"Yeah we kill him."


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

Nicole was quickly packing her bag, as well as trying to dry her hair. She knew that she probably didn't have time for a shower but the fact that she had spent over 12 hours in a hot car, she was doing everyone a favour by taking one.

Finally her hair was dry. As she turned off the hair dryer she heard someone knocking at the front door. She thought this was odd considering that this was Jax's house and he was the one picking her up, why would he be knocking? Putting that aside she pulled her grey Led Zeppelin tee over her head and pulled on a pair of blue denim hot pants, normally when she was going to the clubhouse she wouldn't wear such revealing clothes but they were at hand and she didn't have time to find anything else. She walked to the front door and looked through the peep hole, she was shocked to see Ryan standing on the other side, she backed away from the door.

"Nicole it's okay, Clay sent me." He waited for a response but he didn't get one, even though he could hear her on the other side of the door. "I promise I'm not here to hurt you."

Nicole opened the door, but only halfway, just enough so she could see him. "Where's Jay?"

"At the club. Clay wanted to talk to him so he sent me...So can I come in?" She stepped back allowing the door to open fully. Ryan cautiously stepped inside as she closed the door behind him.

"I've just got a few more things to pack, you can wait here."

She walked back into her bedroom, but instead of continuing with her packing she paced the floor of her room biting her lower lip. The one thing she hadn't expected was this, she hadn't expected to see him so soon, she didn't know if she was ready or if this was the right time.

Pushing all the nagging feelings she had to one side, she pulled out the bag that contained everything she needed to get the man who hurt her out of her life. Walking into the living room where Ryan was sat, she threw the bag onto the coffee table in front of him. His eyes lingered on the bag before he looked up at Nicole who was looking nervous.

"What's this?"

"It's what you want, it's the money I owe you." Ryan looked back at the bag.

"You don't have to count it's all there."

Nicole didn't say another word. She went back into her room leaving Ryan staring at the bag in front of him.

Picking up a hair clip from her dresser, she realised that her hand was shaking, she cradled her hand in her other shaky hand rubbing them together, she looked at herself in the mirror. Taking a deep breath she tried to control her emotions she was not going to let him see her cry. Refocusing herself on the job at hand, she once again picked up her hair clip, she pulled back the front parts of her hair and used the clip to pin her hair back.

"I always did like your hair like that. You can really see your face, see how beautiful you are."

"I thought I told you to wai..." Ryan cut her off.

"You did but I need to talk to you." He noticed the disapproving look on her face. "This wont take long I promise, please just listen to what I have to say."

Nicole looked at him and for the first time since she had heard his voice a few days ago, she saw the man she fell in love with. Nodding her head telling him that she was okay with his request. He motioned her to take a seat on her bed, which she did. As he walked further into her room he threw the bag with the money inside into the middle of the floor. Nicole's eyes fell onto the bag while Ryan's eyes were on her.

"I'm sorry." Ryan admitted quickly gaining her attention from the bag.

"What?" She asked in confusion.

"I'm sorry for the way I've treated you ..."

"Wha.."

"Please just... just let me get this out." He knelt in front of her. "I never meant to hurt you but I know I did and I know I can't take that back or change it, but we could start again."

He took her hand in his turning it palm side up as he placed the necklace that he had pulled from her neck into her hand. Nicole eyes fell onto the necklace she closed her hand tightly as she clutched necklace, pulling her hand towards her chest. As much as she tried she couldn't hold back a tear.

"No one knows us here, no one knows our past. I could get patched in here and we could start again. I love you I always have and always will." His hand was now on her cheek as he affectionately rubbed his thumb over her cheek catching her stray tear. He felt her lean into his touch. "And I know that you still love me, don't try and deny it because I saw it in your eyes at the clubhouse when you looked at me, I saw it Nicole."

"Ry...I ..I don't know."

His hand dropped from her face as his head hung low in defeat. Nicole felt his pain and before she could think about it her hands extended in front of her as she cradled his face in her hands, forcing him to look at her. Their eyes met again and they both felt the connection that they once shared. She lowered her head towards his as she gently brushed her lips against his before softly kissing him. He responded with the same gentle touch.

Nicole pulled away slightly so she could look at him. They stared at one another for a moment before Ryan placed his hand behind her head pulling her in. This time he took the lead on the kiss. The kiss was more passionate and intense than the last. Nicole gave into him as she let her lips part allowing his tongue to enter her mouth, she responded as he allowed her to do the same.

Moving off the floor he wrapped his arm around her small waist as he lifted Nicole further onto the bed. He lowered himself on top of her as she wraps her legs around him. His trailed his kisses down her neck, making her breath hitch with the pleasure he was giving her. She pulled off his cut, throwing it to the floor before her hands fumbled with his t-shirt as she tried to pull it off him. Feeling her struggling Ryan helped her with the removal of his t-shirt. Pulling away from her he pulled his t-shirt over his head, throwing her one of his wicked grins.

Her fingers traced along his toned back, she could feel his muscles contracting as he manoeuvred himself above her, god how she had missed him, missed this. She started kissing his jaw line desperately trying to find her way back to his lips, she wanted to taste his lips. He must have known what she was wanted or he wanted the same because within seconds his lips were back on hers. Their kisses were becoming more rushed and rough as they tried to reconnect with one another. All the bad times seemed to fade away with each kiss and touch they shared.

"God I've missed you kel." He whispered into her ear.

However the sound of her old name snapped her back into reality. He went to kiss her again but she moved her head to the side, as she placed her hands on his chest pushing him away.

"We... we... can't...We need ...to stop" She pushed him again, this time harder, causing him to fall to the side. She immediately sat up as she tried to catch her breath.

He moved to her side. He placed his hand on her face, turning her head so that she had no other choice but to look at him "I'm sorry this was too much." He stated.

"I just can't do this right now." She said quietly.

"I understand we can figure this out, there's no rush I'm not going anywhere." He lays his head against hers "Okay."

"Oksy." He kisses her again before getting up.

He grabbed his t-shirt off the floor and puts it back on before grabbing his cut. He grabbed her bag. "Is this for the car?"

"Yeah." He noticed that her eyes left him and went to the duffel bag lying in the middle of the floor "Wha..."

"I told you I don't want it... I just want you."

Ryan leant against the trunk of the car as he waited for her. Nicole took one last look at herself in the mirror before looking at her bed, she couldn't believe that she almost let that happen, she couldn't believe that she had betrayed Juice who had been so good to her. She knew that she had to speak to Juice but she couldn't think what to say because honestly she didn't know what was going on, but this last hour had changed everything.

#####################

Clay looked around the room it was full of all the clubs friends and loves ones. They were all there for their own safety. He walked to the front of the room and whistled to get everyone's attention.

"Firstly I just want to welcome you to club reaper. Your all here because your family and Samcro takes care of their own. Next couple of days the clubs got some business to handle that could put members and those close to us in danger. The chances are that nothing is going to happen, but... but people have already been hurt on my watch." He turns his head towards Gemma as Jax placed his arm around her pulling her closer to him.

"And that ain't ever going to happen again." He pauses again taking in the room "Nobody leaves this place without an escort, anybody has a safety concern talk to Piney, you have a comfort concern talk to my queen. I want you all to treat this as your home, I love you all."

Everybody clapped and cheered. Clay walked over to Gemma and Jax. As he gave Gemma a hug he saw Nicole and Ryan enter the room. "Princess where have you been?" Clay walked over giving her a hug.

"I'm sorry, I know it's the wrong time to be going AWOL." Nicole could feel Jax staring her as she was hugging Clay, she knew he was pissed.

"Don't do it again." Clay warned.

He looked over her shoulder and placed out his hand, Ryan accepted it and they shook hands. Nicole felt Ryan's arm brush against, sending a shiver down her spine.

"Thanks for taking care of her."

"No problem Clay."

"Nic?" Juice said in a questioning tone as he came to stand by the side of Clay.

Nicole could fell Juice as well as Ryan looking at her, but she wasn't looking at either of them she felt to guilty. Jax picked up on the awkwardness that his cousin was feeling and without saying a word he took hold of her arm, pulling her away from the crowd. Nicole didn't try to fight it because right she would rather have a telling off from Jax than be stuck in between Juice and Ryan. Everybody was confused as he pulled her towards his room. Jax opened the door to his dorm room allowing her to enter first, once she was inside he went inside closing the door behind them.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

"Right start talking." Jax leant against his dresser as Nicole looked at him and shrugged. "Okay, don't want to talk. How about I start you off then, where were you yesterday?"

"I needed to clear my head." She snapped as she folded her arms across her chest.

"What all day and night."

"I've already said I'm sorry Jay, so why don't you just get off my back." Jax was shocked by her sharp tone. He knew that she could have attitude when she wanted to but she rarely had it with him. Her attitude just made him more suspicious.

"What is with you?"

"What do you mean?" Jax was now standing in front of her.

"Your not acting yourself. I mean you disappear and don't even try to contact..."

"My cell died." Nicole shouted turning away from Jax.

"You have been acting off with everyone especially around me and look at you you're shaking."

"I'm fine." Nicole shouted her voice wavering. Jax was right her hole body was shaking and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't stop it.

"No your far from fine." Jax placed his hands on her arm moving her towards hi bed where he made her take a seat. She couldn't hold back her tears any more and she started to sob.

Kneeling in front of her Jax moved a piece of her hair from her face, placing it behind her ear. She was a mess and it scared him, he hadn't seen her this messed up and upset since Michael had died. This was enough for him, he needed to know what was happening.

"Nic, I need to ask... I need to ask you something." His voice was soft and gentle as he eased into his question. Nicole wiped the tears from her face and looked at Jax. "Ryan..has he...um..has he hurt you?" Jax stuttered, he was nervous what answer he was going to get.

Nicole just sat there staring at him, she was in shock. How did he know how could he she thought to herself. Her mind was doing overtime trying to figure out what to say when all of sudden her mouth was taking over and the lies were coming out before she could stop them.

"No."

"You can tell me, if he is hurting yo..."

"NO." Nicole got to her feet.

"Nic..."

"NO." She said repeating herself. Jax was now standing in front of her, his eyes narrowing down on her.

"You don't have to be scared I'm here for you, I'll keep you safe but Nic you have to tell me, is Ryan the guy who hurt you?"

Nicole closed her eyes fighting back her tears. She didn't know what to say she couldn't keep lying to him it was killing her. But she really didn't know what to tell him. If he had asked her yesterday she probably would have broke and told him everything, but after what happened back at the house with Ryan she was confused and she wasn't sure how she felt about the whole thing. But she did know she couldn't let Jax kill him, which he would if she told him the truth.

"Jay... I... I can't do this right now."

As she left his room she ran down the corridor where she bumped into Ryan.

"Hey." He placed a finger underneath her chin tilting her head up towards his so he could look at her. "You've been crying."

"You need to leave..." Nicole stopped when she heard the door open behind here, she didn't have to turn around to know it was Jax. "Leave." She whispered.

Ryan looked at Jax who staring back at him with a scornful gaze. If looks could kill then Ryan knew he would dead right now. He let attention go back to Nicole when he felt her push him. He backed away when Jax started making his way towards them.

Jax felt his blood boil when he saw Ryan. He didn't need Nicole to say the words her reaction was enough for him to know that something wasn't right and that Ryan was part of that.

Once Ryan had walked away Nicole turned around to face Jax who was about to charge past her, after Ryan, but she stepped into his path.

"Jay please."

"What the hell?"

"Everything okay?" Jax and Nicole turned in the direction of the new voice. They saw Happy. Happy noticed the state that Nicole was in and quickly looked at Jax. He knew this was about Ryan "Do you want me to after him?"

"What?" Nicole questioned, her head flicking back and forth between the two of them before finally stopping on Jax. "You've talked to Happy about this?"

"Yeah. I knew something wrong I asked him to look out for you because I love you."

"Bro do you.."

"No. Both of you come with me." She walked back into Jax's room, she waited for both of them to enter before she slammed the door shut."Listen up because I'm only going to say this once. Ryan hasn't hurt me."

"But..."

"No buts Happy" 

"I know he has done something to you." Happy said.

"He hasn't." Happy went to approach her but she backed away from his touch. "He hasn't." She repeated as if she was trying to convince herself more than him.

Happy looked at Jax as he shook his head, not liking the way Nicole was acting. Jax approached her placing his arms around her, she pulled away at first but as Jax pulled her back, this time she gave into him.

"He hasn't." She spoke into his chest. 

"Sssh, it's okay were not going to go after him we believe you... I'm sorry."

When he felt that she was ready he releases her from his embrace. He kissed her cheek, before turning back to face Happy.

"You okay?" Happy asked walking over to her. She simply nodded her head. "Why don't you go clean yourself up and then we'll get a drink."

"Okay." She went to the bathroom down the hall from Jax's dorm.

Once she was out of the room Jax punched the wall in temper. "You buy any of that?" Happy asked.

"No, you?"

"It's bullshit bro, he's got her scared."

"Yeah."

"How we gonna handle this?" 

"Gently, he has her so frightened and messed up that she's lying to cover for him. I don't want to go in heavy handed and lose her."

"So what do we do?"

"Right now nothing. Me, Ope and Juice have to go see Weston" Happy could see that this was killing him.

"Go, I'll keep an eye on her. I won't let him near her." 

"Thanks Hap" They shared a manly hug.

#########################

Nicole stood in front of the mirror as she splashed her face with cold water, trying to make herself look half decent, which really wasn't working. Leaving the bathroom she entered the bar, she was glad in one way to see that it was busy, as it meant hopefully she could slip outside without being noticed.

Making it outside she found herself a nice secluded spot. Sitting down she lit her cigarette, inhaling deeply she felt herself starting to relax. Many thoughts were running through her mind, but they were interrupted when she watched Jax, Opie and Juice leave the clubhouse. The three of them headed towards their bikes. She could see Jax scanning the lot, she knew he was probably trying to find. She watched as they drove out the parking lot. Nicole placed her attention back onto smoking her cigarette when she heard someone's voice.

"Mind If I join you?" She looked up to see Happy.

"Depends." 

"I just want a smoke that's all I promise, I have no hidden agenda."

"In that case take a seat." Happy sat next to her, accepting the cigarette that Nicole handed him.

######################

Jax, Opie and Juice pulled up outside Zobelle's shop. Weston was already leaving the shop, stopping in his stride when he saw the three bikers standing in front of him.

"You need to get out of my sight before I cause you serious damage." He warned as he squared up to Jax. Jax noticed the black bruise resting on Weston's right cheek.

"Looks like someone has already caused you damage. Maybe I could even up your face a little bit add another one on the other side."

Jax moved closer to Weston. The mood he was in he could quite easily rip him apart right now. Opie stepped up next to Jax and whispers in his ear, reminding him that they weren't there to provoke, but inform.

"Seems your great white hope only gives a shit about one colour and that's green... Zobelle is dealing heroin to the Mayans."

"Those Ak's you stole from us, he gave to brown to control the street." Opie added

"You're talking out of your asses." Weston snapped at them.

"We had one of our guys follow him, Zobelle met with Alvarez." Weston's eyes narrowed in on Jax. "He left with a duffel bag of heroin."

"Yeah guess they've been keeping you out the loop, lots of private meetings AJ." Juice added with a cocky grin.

"You being the true believer and all." Jax adds bending closer towards Weston.

"You need to leave." Weston said seriously.

Jax and Weston continued to stare at another. Opie tried to drag him away but it wasn't easy, once he finally got Jax to leave they headed back to their bikes. Opie could tell that something was bothering him, and by the cautious behaviour of Juice he also knew something was wrong as well.

"You okay brother?" Jax looked away from Opie as he looked at Juice who was fidgetting underneath his gaze.

"Yeah" Jax looked back at Opie. "Just a bit of trouble with Nic."

"You need anything"

"No, I'll deal with it. Actually you can do me one thing." 

"Anything."

"Give me a bit of time with Juice." It was now Opie's turn to make Juice squirm, as he turned to face the younger biker. "I just want to talk to him"

"I'll meet you back at the clubhouse. You sure you don't need anything?"

"Positive."

Juice watched as Opie drove away, leaving him alone Jax who seemed to be very pissed off at this moment. He waited nervously for Jax to break the silence, he didn't have to wait long.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"It's about Nic."

"What's up?"

"Do you know where she was yesterday?"

" Don't know, sorry man,"

"Do you know anything about this Ryan guy?" Juice didn't answer, but Jax didn't need him to his reaction told him everything he needed to know.

"Why?"

"Nothing it doesn't matter, come on we better get back."

##################

Clay, Tig, Chibs and Bobby left the clubhouse."Do either of you know where he is?" Clay asked them.

"Haven't seen him." Tig replied.

"HAPPY... HAP" Clay shouted.

"Over here." They all turned around and saw Happy huddled in the corner with Nicole

"What's up Prez? Happy asked as he got to his feet."

"We have the meet with Leroy and Henry... Everything..."

"Yeah were just having a sneaky smoke. Is it all right if Nicole comes?"

"What?" Clay and Nicole said in unison.

"Well she wants to be part of this and were all gonna be there to keep an eye on her, so why not." Happy looked down at Nicole who was still sitting on the floor. "You up for it?"

"Well yeah, but it's up to Clay." Nicole and Happy were both looking at Clay who seemed to be giving this idea some serious thought.

"I'm okay with it, but you do what I say. Deal" Clay offered.

"Deal." Nicole smiled at her Uncle as she got to her feet.

"You can ride with me." Happy stated.

#####################

Clay sat at the table with Leroy and Henry who were sitting opposite him.

"Past few months have been brutal for all of us. We have all lost a lot" Clay started.

"Were not looking for partners" Henry said immediately cutting Clay off.

"And neither are we." Leroy added.

"Guy's I'm not talking about a partnership, I'm talking about an understanding. We all have a common enemy. Alvarez."

He looked at Henry who was nodding in agreement, when he looked at Leroy he noticed that he was looking past him. Clay knew exactly where Leroy's eyes were falling on or rather who they were falling on.

"Leroy you with me."

"What yeah."

"Don't worry about her she's one of us." Clay turns around to face Nicole "Princess come take a seat." Nicole did as Clay asked.

"Henry, Leroy" They nodded in response to her.

"So as I was saying Alvarez is our enemy and we recently came into some information, he ain't doing this alone he has help, Ethan Zobelle"

"Who?" Leroy questioned.

"He's an American nationalist." Leroy looked at the young girl who answered his question.

"Shit those crazy bastards. They talk about a free world without colour."

"And apparently Samcro" Nicole mumbled. Leroy smiled at her, he liked this girls sass.

"She's right, they've been trying to push us out of our own town. We found out Zobelle is supplying guns to the Mayans, so he can get control of the town. He's already taken over some of your patches. So if we put a stop to Zobelle we all win." 

"So what's in it for us." Henry asked, not hearing any positives to helping out Samcro.

"We wipe out the Mayans and you can split the Mayan territory."

"What's the catch" Leroy queried.

"We get to keep our town, so do we have a deal." Clay was taken aback with Nicole's bluntness but at the same he was overwhelmed with pride.

Henry laughed shocked by the girls balls. "Yeah we have a deal." 

"I'm in too." They all shook hands sealing the deal.

"Princess you did good, maybe Jax might have a little competition for VP." Clay teased as he draped his arm around her shoulder.

"Well I wouldn't go that far, but I have to admit I enjoyed it." She stopped in front of Happy, as he handed her the spare helmet.

"So you give them what for." He asked.

"She sure did" Clay said answering for her.

##########################

Jax, Opie and Juice were already at the Clubhouse talking to Unser, when Clay, Bobby, Tig, Chibs, Happy and Nicole walked into the bar.

"How did you get on?" Jax asked looking at Clay.

"Why don't you ask this one." Clay gestured towards Nicole, who was smiling like a Cheshire cat. Jax didn't care what had put that smile on her face he was just glad to see her looking happy.

"She helped Clay with the meet, she held her own, quite impressive." Bobby recalled. Jax smiled at Nicole who was now walking towards him.

"It was nothing. I just helped a little." Jax pulled her down onto his lap, she swung her legs over his.

"So do I have to worry about my VP status?"

"Maybe." She flicked the front of his club reaper cap with her hand. Clay chuckled as he watched him. He was glad to see them happy, especially with the circumstances that were weighing down on them both.

Nicole left them to it as everyone including Unser headed to Church.

"So back to business, how did you get on with Weston?"

"Well we told him about Zobelle being in bed with the Mayans."

"So hopefully Zobelle will now be unprotected and Weston will be making his own decisions" Clay responded.

"Hopefully irrational ones." Opie snorted.

"So what do you want me to do?" Unser finally spoke.

"Let's just say we need your help insighting him." Unser looked confused by this request but he agreed.

######################

Nicole headed to kitchen to get herself a coffee. On her way out she bumped into Ryan again.

"I thought I told you to leave." She said in hushed tones.

"Well I'm kinda of staying here so I had to come back."

"Oh right." She went to walk past him but he grabbed hold of her free hand. She looked at him sternly, he loosened his grip but kept hold of her hand.

"I just want to check your okay?"

"I'm fine."

"And Jax?"

"He'll cool down."

"Did you tell him about us?" His grips tightened again.

"NO." She pulls her hand away from him, she started to walk away but he stopped her again, this time his touch was more gentle.

"I'm sorry. God you have no idea what you do to me." A smile crept onto both their faces. He let fingers intertwine in hers and for that spilt second they both felt like they were the only two in the room. That was until she heard the door open, and she saw Juice standing there watching her and Ryan. Nicole instantly dropped her hand from Ryan's. Juice stormed out of the clubhouse.

"Shit."

She goes to follow him but Ryan stopped her again, this time his touch wasn't so gentle. As Ryan pulled her back Nicole dropped her coffee cup, causing it to smash on the floor. Both their eyes fell to the floor where the smashed coffee cup lay. The room fell silent.

"I'm sorry I didn't..." Ryan quickly apologised.

"I know, I know" She bent down and started picking up the fragments of her cup, Ryan bent down to help her.

"What the hell happened?" Jax demanded now standing beside Nicole. She looked up to realise that all the guys were looking at her and Ryan.

"It was just me I was clumsy and I dropped my mug."

"Okay, nothing to see here, go back to what you were doing." Clay said. Most of the guys walked away but Jax and Happy remained glued to where they were standing.

"I'll take this." Ryan took the broken cup out of her hands, taking it into the kitchen. Nicole got to her feet and looked at Jax and Happy.

"Back off it was an accident."

"I saw him grab your." Happy said in a low growl.

"It was nothing." She pushed past them both as she went to try and find Juice.

Jax storms towards his room desperately needing some head space. Happy however entered the kitchen where Ryan was. Before Ryan could turn around Happy grabbed him from behind pinning him against the wall.

"I told you to stay away from her." Happy whispered menacingly into Ryan's ear.

"I didn..." Happy cut him off by slamming him harder against the wall.

"You grab her again and I will break every bone in your body. Understand?" Ryan nodded his head as he was unable to speak because Happy had him pinned against the wall so tightly. Happy finally released him. " Good. glad we had this little chat. But I don't want to have it again." Ryan kicked the bin that was next to him. He was beyond pissed.

###################

Nicole saw Juice sitting on his bike, his back facing her. Juice heard her footsteps approaching him, but he restrained himself from looking at her.

"Juice."

"You're getting back with him aren't you?" Juice asked, still not looking at her. She took a deep breath and walked in front of him, taking a seat on the bike opposite him.

"Honestly I don't know what's happening."

"Well at least your not lying to me."

"I care for you too much to lie to you."

"But not to hurt me."

"Juice hurting you was the last thing I ever wanted to do."

"Well you did a bang up job at that." Juice replied sarcastically.

"Don't... don't be like this."

"I think I have the right to be mad."

"I'm sorry."

"How can you consider getting back with him have you forgotten what he did to you?"

"Trust me I haven't forgotten." 

"Then why are you even considering it?"

"It's hard to explain, you wouldn't understand." How could he understand when she didn't even understand what was going on.

"Your right I don't. If you get back with him Nic I won't cover for you any more."

"What do you mean?"

"Jax was asking me about Ryan today, what I knew about him and I lied, but I won't be able to do that if you get back with him." Juice put his helmet on and started up his bike. "I can't forget what he did to you." Nicole was left sitting in the cold.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 22**

The next morning Weston stormed into Zobelle's shop with two of his men. He pulled a gun on Zobelle and his daughter Polly. He had decided to do a little investigating after Samcro had told him that Zobelle was dealing with the Mayans, he was shocked and pissed to find out it was true.

"AJ what are you doing?" Zobelle asked before standing in front of his daughter to protect her.

"You gave our guns to the wet backs."

"What are you talking about?" Weston slammed a package of heroin onto the counter. Zobelle looked down and realised that his secret was out.

"You lied you race trading son of a bitch."

"AJ."

"You lied to all of us."

"AJ...AJ" Zobelle started to approach him..

"Your a scum bag"

"We needed them to do our dirty work." Zobelle tried to plead, but Weston was not listening. Polly knew this to, so she pulled a gun from under the counter and aimed it at Weston.

"DROP YOUR GUNS NOW." She shouted. The other two men with Weston pulled out their guns, aiming them at her. "GET OUT" She shouted again trying desperately to keep her voice steady.

"Everyone just stay calm." Zobelle ordered trying to calm the situation before it got out of control and someone got hurt. Weston slowly lowered his gun, his two men followed his lead.

"You make me sick." Weston stormed out of the shop. Polly approached her father.

"Dad what does this mean?"

"Call deputy Hale and tell him that he threatened your life. He will send someone to protect you." He kissed her before leaving through the back door.

#####################

Weston arrived at Charming police station after he had received a call from his son telling him that him and his younger brother were being taken away. He arrives just in time to see the social workers placing his children into their car. Weston tried to stop them but the social worker told him to back off. Weston stood by as he watched his children being driven away. He turned his face away from the scene. As he turned away he noticed that Jax and Opie were watching him. Weston stormed over to them.

"I see your kids are taking that trip I arranged." Jax said with a smug smile

"You son of a bitch, I'll kill you for this"

"At least I didn't gang rape them." A silence fell between them. Weston now understanding.

"You wanna kill me name your time and place." Weston finally spoke.

"Timberland 8 O'clock your 10 against mine. No weapons. And one of us will be coming home in a body bag."

"Access Road L4 off the main, Lumber Drive, No witnesses" Opie added.

"I'll be there."

Hale was watched Opie, Jax and Weston from the steps of the station. He was going to over and intervene but the three went their separate ways. Hale went to go back inside but met Unser standing in the doorway, this was perfect because Unser was just the man he was looking for.

"I've just had a call, somebody threatened the life of Zobelle's daughter. I've had to put two officers on baby sitting duty. This has to be Clay." 

"That doesn't make sense" Unser responded.

"I don't want this getting out of control, I don't want a blood bath in charming."

"There is going to be no blood shed in Charming." 

"Just because they bury the bodies somewhere else..."

"Hale, this wasn't Samcro just leave it. They won't bring this into Charming" Unser said firmly as he walked away from the younger man.

"It already is." Hale mumbled to himself.

#####################

Jax and Opie went back at the Clubhouse. Opie made his way over to Lyla, while Jax was greeted by Tara. She kissed him on the lips before they took a seat in the corner.

"So you ready to talk about it?" She asked. She had heard about what had happened yesterday between himself, Happy, Ryan and Nicole but he didn't want to talk about it so she didn't push him.

"I'm sorry, I just couldn't speak about it last night. But yeah I'm good."

"So is Ryan her ex?"

"I think so." 

"You think?"

"Well she never actually admitted it but I can tell. God I could just kill him?" He leant back into his chair closing his eyes.

"She's probably scared Jax. She loved this man and even though he hurt her it's hard to turn them feelings off. Plus she is probably so used to covering for him that its just reflex for her to protect him."

"Maybe. Where is she anyway?" Tara turned her head to the Chapel doors in front of her. Nicole had kept her distance from everyone after her talk with Juice last night.

"She went straight in there this morning, hasn't spoken to anyone. She just locked herself away. I did try to talk to her but she just closed me down."

"I'll give it a go." Jax kissed her tenderly.

"Gemma's being asking questions." She said as he pulled away from her lips.

"Though she might. Look don't say anything not yet, not till I know for sure." Tara agreed.

#######################

Nicole pulled her knees up under her chin as she curled up on Jax's chair. She took a sip of her extra strong coffee the she had made herself. She really needed the caffeine, she had barely slept at all last night. She couldn't get yesterdays events out of her head, she kept replaying everything, Jax asking her about Ryan, her and Ryan almost having sex and then there was her conversation with Juice. She couldn't believe that in one day she had managed to fuck everything up.

She looked towards the doors when she heard them open, she wasn't shocked to see Jax standing there.

Jax paused for a second as he took in her appearance, normally Nicole always made an effort, although she didn't need,she always looked gorgeous with or without makeup, but today was different. Her long dark hair was pulled in a messy ponytail that rested on top of her head. She didn't have a scrap of make-up on, which made the dark circles under eyes stand out more. She was wearing a pair of grey sweat pants and a navy Samcro t-shirt, that he gathered was his as it was about 4 sizes to big for her. Looking at her sitting there he thought she looked so lost and fragile.

"Hey" Jax spoke as he finally managed to find the words. Nicole looked towards him but quickly turned away. Jax took a seat next her. "You okay?"

"What do you think/" She snaps back at him.

"Look I know it's hard..." 

"Hard" She scoffed. "You have no idea. Thanks to you..."

"What did I do?"

"Well thanks to you and Happy, Ryan has gone AWOL, Juice isn't speaking to me, oh and I can't even go out there." She pointed to the double doors "Without everybody staring and whispering about me. So yes Jax I am finding it a little hard and it is because of you."

"I never meant..."

"Yes I know you never meant to hurt me you only did what you did because you love me. I've heard all before." Jax banged his fist onto the table causing her to jump.

"Fuck sake Nic. I don't get you I really don't. I know you and I know when you're lying to me, and yesterday when I asked you about Ryan hurting you, you lied to me. But for the life of me I don't understand it. You know I would protect you no matter what that took, I always have always will. So why the fuck are you covering for him and arguing with me"

Nicole sat there shocked by his outburst. She knew that lying to him would hurt him but she didn't realise that he would be affected this much. Nicole got up and went towards the door but Jax stood in her path. He towered over her as she was barefoot and lacked in the height department. If it had been anyone else standing in front of her she would have been intimidated but this was Jax and she knew she was safe with him. He was right he had always protected her and that's when she decided she couldn't do it to him any more she couldn't lie.

"Please just tell me."

"Because...because I love him." Jax stood still he was stunned into silence he wasn't expecting that answer. He really didn't know what he was expecting but that wasn't it. "Jay say something...anything... please."

"So he was the one who hurt you, the guy you ran away from?" Nicole nodded her head. "Where is he?"

"I don't know like I said I haven't seen him since it all kicked of yesterday." Jax was about to ask another question but he was interrupted when Gemma came into the room. She looked between them, before finally letting her eyes rest on Jax.

"What's going on here?" Jax's looked over his shoulder to Nicole ,her eyes were pleading him not to say anything.

"Nothing." He replies focusing back on Gemma.

"Bullshit. I've been around you two long enough to know when you're fighting, so I'll ask you both again." She turned her attention onto Nicole. "What's going on?"

"I don't like her and Juice being together, and that's what we've been arguing about." Jax blurted out, gaining Gemma's attention.

"Sit down both of you." Jax and Nicole took a seat and faced Gemma who was standing in front of them. "Now I want to get a few things straight, this club is going through a lot right now."

"We know that Aun..."

"Don't interrupt me. As I was saying we are going through a rough patch and we need everybody to focus on that because if we don't people could get hurt and no one wants that. So how about we make a deal." She pointed to Jax "You stop giving her shit about Juice. And you." She now pointed to Nicole "Cool things with Juice until we've dealt with this. You two shouldn't be fighting right now you should be supporting one another, like you always do. So can we please call a truce." Jax grabbed Nicole's hand in his, they both nodded in agreement at Gemma. She gave them both a kiss. "I'll give you a minute"

"She's right Jay we don't need my mess effecting things with Zobelle and Weston." 

"I can't just forget about this Nic."

"And I don't expect you to. But how about we just put it on hold, and once we have sorted everything out then I promise I will tell you everything."

"Okay, but if I see him I won't..." 

"I don't think we'll he'll be coming around here for a while." 

"But if he does."

"Then I'll handle it. He's changed Jay he doesn't want to hurt me."

"If you say so." There was another silence. Jax didn't believe it for one second men like Ryan never changed, and he hated that Nicole was sounding like a battered wife. Ryan deserved a beating for that alone.

"So you set up a meet with Weston?"

"Yeah 8 O'clock tonight, at Timberland"

"You sure it's the right thing do?" 

"Yeah." 

"I really don't know about it Jay. I just have this feeling..."

"We will be fine were not going in blind we have a plan."

"Please just be safe."

##########################

The guys were getting ready for their meeting with Weston and his men, the tension was running high, everybody was feeling nervous. Nicole walked over to stand by Gemma who was watching over her boys as always.

"Hey Aunt Gemma." 

"Hey baby." She turned to look at her niece. "Well you look a lot better."

Nicole had changed into a pair of tight dark blue jeans and a loose fitting Navy wife beater, that showed off a bit of her black lacy bra. She had also put on a bit of make-up and run a brush through her hair.

"Yeah well figured the other look wasn't working for me much, plus I'm going to meet Carl. I can't just sit around here and wait for them."

"I understand that. Where are you meeting him?" 

"He's picking me up here"

"Good, it ain't safe for you to be alone out there."

"I know."

"So you and Jackson good now?"

"Yeah."

"You sure that was all that was a matter with you two?" 

"What do you mean?"

"It's rare you two fight and..." 

"You know how protective he is when it comes to me and boys. You remember Greg Williams don't you?" Gemma started to laugh.

"Oh my god I'd forgotten about him. The poor guy didn't stand a chance. You know I think that was Jax's first fight."

"Well you couldn't really call it a fight Greg was 7. All he did was share his sweets with me. Bless him." 

"What ever happened to him?"

"God knows, he never spoke to me again after that." They both laughed.

"What so funny?" Tara asks as she walks towards them with Abel in her arms.

"Just memories sweetheart. How's my grandson?"

"He's okay." Nicole handed him to Gemma. Nicole started cooing over him. "It's nice to see you both with a smile on your face." Gemma and Nicole just smiled at one another again.

"Well I better get going, Carl will be waiting for me"

She gave Abel a kiss before saying her goodbyes to Tara and Gemma. As she walked outside she saw Half Sack talking to Juice.

"Hey Sack, Juice."

"Hey Nic." Half sack said, while Juice remained silent. As they stood there in silence, Juice obviously couldn't handle it as walked away from them.

"You can go after him if you want." Nicole looked at Half Sack. 

"What?"

"Go." She doesn't need telling again.

"Juice wait,please will you just talk to me." She grabbed his arm making him face her.

"What do you want me to say Nic?" 

"Shout at me anything I can't stand you not talking to me." They both turn to face Carl who was honking on his horn. Juice shook his head disapprovingly.

"He's here for you I take it, going on a date?"

"He's just a friend Juice you know that."

"Whatever just go."

"Juice." She grabbed his arm again but this time he pushed her hand away.

"Your dates waiting for you."

"Will you at least take care tonight."

"Like you care." He turns his back on her.

Nicole walked over to Carl's car slamming the door as she got in. Carl could tell she was upset.

"Are..."

"Please don't ask me if I'm okay, just get me out of here." 

"Where do you want to go?"

"Anywhere that supplies alcohol." 


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

The Sons arrived at the meeting point. As they waited for Weston and his men, Jax saw this as an opportunity to have a word with Juice. He had seen him and Nicole on the parking lot before they had left and he had to admit he didn't like the look of their conversation.

"Hey man." Jax handed Juice a cigarette which he accepted.

"Hey."

"You good?" 

"Fine." Juice replied without even looking at him.

"I saw you and Nic talking before, looked a little heated."

"It was nothing." Jax nodded it hadn't gone unnoticed to him that Juice hadn't looked at him.

"You knew didn't you? You knew about Ryan?" Juice was shocked by Jax's tone he thought it would be harsh but it wasn't. Juice finally turned to face him.

"She made me promise man. I wanted to but.."

"I understand. I take it you know about Ryan trying to get her back."

"Yeah we talked about it."

"And now your not talking to her." Jax stated.

"I can't man."

"I'm going to need you to do me a favour. I need you start talking to her."

"I don't know if I can."

"You have to. Me and Nic have agreed to put off on dealing with Ryan until we've dealt with Zobelle and Weston."

"And?"

"And, If there's one thing I know, it's my baby cousin, and right now I know she's near breaking point. I don't think she can take much more, she'll run bro and with Ryan worming his way back in I'm afraid she'll go with him."

"So what do you want me to say to her?"

"Nothing just be normal with her stop freezing her out."

"You think it will help" 

"Yeah she cares for you a lot and I know you feel the same way, so yeah it will be a great help. Make her refocus on the good things."

"OK GUYS GET IN POSTION" Clay shouted as he saw Weston approaching. Jax patted Juice on his back before standing next to Clay.

Weston and his guys pulled up and jumped out of their vehicles. They all pulled guns on Samcro, they fall into line keeping their guns raised.

"What happened to 10 men no weapons?" Jax whisperd to Clay.

"Guess he couldn't handle a fair fight." Clay responded loud enough for Weston to here.

"Fair is for losers I want to win." Weston shouted back.

"Yeah me too." Jax responded smugly. Weston looked confused.

Jax looks towards Tig and gave him the nod. Tig whistled and within seconds the One Niners and the Chinese appeared from the building behind the Sons. They were all carrying weapons and they totally out numbered Weston and his men.

"Put your weapons down." Clay ordered. Weston knew that he had no choice but to follow Clay's orders. He told his men to drop there guns.

Jax walked over to Weston. "Lets just stick the plan, your 10 best against mine."

"Fine."

#####################################

Nicole and Carl head inside the bar. For the first half an hour Carl kept the conversation pretty light, gathering that she wasn't in the mood to talk. But after a couple of drinks Nicole started to loosen up. She told Carl everything, well almost everything, she knew she could trust Carl but it was an unwritten code that you don't speak of club business to an outsider. So she told him about her and Juice and about Ryan and that Jax and Happy knew about what he had done. She let the information just flow out in one go, she couldn't stop herself. She didn't let Carl get a word in edge ways, but she picked up on how he was feeling about everything by the facial expressions that he was pulling. She had seen shocked, sadness but the one she saw most was anger. When she had finally finished Carl just stared at her in disbelief.

"No wonder you needed a drink."

"I know it's a lot of drama."

"Just a bit... Look i'm sorry."

"What for?"

"I knew something was up when you saw that bike. I should have pushed you to tell me."

"Carl, if I wasn't going to tell Jay what makes you think that I would have told you?" She placed her hand on top of his "You have nothing to apologise for. Your a great friend." She smiled sweetly at him, he smiled back. However moments later she noticed that Carl's eyes left her and were now focused on something over her shoulder.

"Deputy Hale."

"Carl." Nicole looked to her side to see Hale standing next to her.

"David. What is it?"

"Can I talk to you?" Nicole looked back at Carl, he instantly took the hint.

"Carl will you.."

"I'll go get us some more drinks." Carl smiled at Hale as he walks past him towards the bar. Hale took Carl's seat.

"So how can I help you David?"

"I need you to tell me where Clay is." Nicole just sat there looking blankly at him. "I know you know where he is Nicole."

"And if I do know where he is why would I tell you, you being a cop an all."

"Because I saw Jax and Weston today at the station, I saw the rage in Jax."

"They won't spill blood in Charming."

"The rage I saw today I'm sure Clay would allow it."

"You know about Gemma right, what they did to her." Nicole voice started to shake.

"Yes I know. And I can guess what the retaliation will be. I just need you to tell me where they are so that I can stop them from doing something stupid. I don't want to arrest them but if they kill inside Charming I won't be able to help them. And I guess you don't want that to happen"

"Your right I don't want that. I don't want my family back in Jail, but if you remember correctly when I asked for your help I didn't get it, and look what happened, Juice almost died."

"And that was a mistake on my part, do you want to make that same mistake?" She sat back in her chair as she looked him up and down. "Please Nicole."

"Fine but promise me you are not going to arrest them?" 

"I promise I just want to stop them from doing something stupid." Nicole hesitated she knew she shouldn't tell him but she already had a bad feeling about the fight they had organised.

"Timberland."

"Thank you Nicole." Carl arrived back at the table. Hale got up letting Carl sit back down. Carl watched him as he leave. When he looked back at Nicole her head was buried in her hands.

"What did he want?"

"I think I just did something very stupid." She grabbed her drink out of Carl's hand and downed it one.

"You want another?"

"Yes, and make it a double."

#########################

Jax charged at Weston, everyone else following suit. Punches were being thrown everywhere and bodies were being thrown to ground. The Chinese and the One Niners stood on the side lines as they watched the Sons finally get their revenge on their enemy. The fight was in full swing, with the Sons winning when suddenly the police sirens come into ear shot, Hale leading the charge.

"Shit" Clay shouted taking a second from beating on one of Weston's men.

The Chinese and the One Niners fled the scene quickly. Weston finally managed to stumble to his feet away from Jax, he was covered in blood and could barley focus but he managed to tell his men to go. They followed his orders and they piled into their cars, driving away. Jax came from behind Weston and pushed him.

"We ain't done yet." Jax growled.

"I'm not going anywhere." Jax and Weston continued their fight. Hale and his officers arrived just in time. Hale ran from his Jeep pulling the two men apart.

"Leave, this doesn't concern you." Jax warned Hale as he keept his eyes glued on Weston

"Your inside Charming, this concerns me." Hale shouted back at him. Hale looked at Weston who was covered in blood, some was Jax's but most of it was his own. "I'm going to have to take you two in."

"There's no crime here." Weston said firmly.

"Hale don't do this." Jax pleaded.

"I'm doing this for your own good, before you do something stupid." One of Hale's officers arrested Weston why the other arrested Jax. Clay was standing by the side Hale

"What they hell are you doing?"

"Stopping you from making a mistake...if you want I can arrest you all." Clay didn't answer, he just looked at his step son, who was giving him a look telling him just to let it go. "I didn't think so." Hale walked away.

Clay walked back to Tig "Tell Unser to move on the store."

############################

Unser arrived outside of Zobelle's store he saw two officers parked outside the store. Speaking to them through the window of the patrol car, he told the officers to go back to the station. They were hesitate at first but Unser pulled rank kindly reminding them that he is their boss. Once they left he waited outside for Clay and the others to arrive.

#####################

The two officers arrived back at the station just as Hale returns from the holding cells. "What are you two doing back here?" Hale questioned them.

"Unser cut us lose." One of the officers said.

"Shit."

#########################

Clay, Opie, Tig, Happy and Juice pull up outside Zobelle's shop. Unser was standing outside waiting for them.

"Is she still in there?" Clay spoke as he removed his helmet.

"Yeah." The older officer said, still unaware of the plan.

Clay's led the way into the store, his brothers trailing behind him. Polly, who was behind the counter, turned around when she heard the door open. Her jaw dropped when she saw Clay approaching her.

"Where's your father?"

"I don't know." Polly's voice was shaking.

"Don't lie." Tig pointed his finger at the young blonde warning her that now was not the time for bullshit.

"I really don't."

"Well get him on the phone?" Clay said simply. Polly shook her head which just angered Clay even more. Clay advanced towards her forcefully grabbing her by her hair. Unser was taken aback when Clay pulled out his gun and placed against the young girl's temple.

"Clay calm down she..."

"She's just as bad as the rest of them."

All eyes where on Clay and Polly, until they heard the door open. Everyone turned to face Zobelle who was staring at his daughter. Happy grabbed hold of him.

"Let my daughter go." Zobelle pleaded as he saw the fear in his daughters eyes.

Clay pushed Polly into Tig's. His Sargent of Arms held tightly onto Polly as Clay stormed over to Zobelle.

"What do you want?" Zobelle asked, diverting his eyes from Clay and to Tig, who was forcing his daughter into a chair.

"To talk, outside Charming." Zobelle looked up to Unser who was looking slightly taken aback by the events that were taking place in front of him. But he also didn't look like he was going to do anything to stop it.

"Are you really going to let this happen?" Unser turned away from Zobelle, as he was unable to answer.

"Walk out the door." Clay ordered, making Zobelle's attention focus back on him.

"No...no you want to kill me you do it here in main street."

"Fine."

Clay grabbed Zobelle out of Happy's vice hold. He kicked Zobelle in the crease of his knee causing him to drop to the floor. Clay trained his gun to the back of Zobelle's head. Zobelle heard the click of the safety coming off.

Polly let out a cry. Tig looked down at her, before using his hand to shield her eyes from what was about to happen. Clay places his finger on the trigger, he was ready to fire, ready to kill the son of a bitch who hurt his Queen. His finger weighted heavily on the trigger when Hale stormed inside.

Hale froze before pulling out his own gun and pointing it at Clay while his eyes darted around the other Samcro members. Juice and Opie were standing by the counter when a noise behind them stole their attention from Hale. They saw two armed officers enter through the back door.

"Deputy they have threatened the life of my daughter as well as my on, arrest them." Zobelle informed him as he felt Clay push the gun harder to his head.

"I've got this David." Unser said moving towards his deputy.

"What are you doing?" Hale asked him. He knew Unser was on Samcro's payroll but he still found it hard to believe that he was willing to let this happen.

"My badge still out ranks yours, and I'm telling you all there is no crime here, and there wont be." Althoug Unser was talking to Hale he was looking at Clay.

Clay lowered his gun, knowing there was noway that Hale would let him murder Zobelle and get away with it. Hale mirrored Clay's action as he to lowered his gun. He motioned to his officers to do the same.

Although he still wasn't a 100% about the whole situation, Unser was right he was still the man in charge so he had no other choice but to leave. HE was at the door ready to leave when Zobelle's voice stopped him.

"WAIT...WAIT." Hale looked over his shoulder.

"Me and my daughter are in possession of illegal drugs. Underneath the counter in the top draw." Hale motioned to one of his officers at the counter to check out Zobelle's claims.

"It's here." The officer said as he showed the package of drugs to Hale.

"I Have to take him in."

"I know." Unser stepped aside making room for Hale to slide pass him and get to Zobelle.

##########################

Nicole and Carl finally made their way out of Lenny's bar, both a little tipsy. Nicole stumbled out the door as she lost her footing in her heels. Carl caught her before she fell. As he propped her back onto feet they erupted into laughter.

Making sure she was stable, Carl moved away from her as he tried to fish out his cell from his back pocket. He needed to call a cab as he was in no state to drive.

Nicole meanwhile was keeping herself occupied as she tried to light her cigarette. Normally it wasn't that hard to light a cigarette but for some reason right now it seemed impossible, so when she finally managed to light it, she let out a little squeal and started dancing in street.

Her and Carl stumbled a little further down the road when she noticed the commotion going on outside Zobelle's shop. She suddenly stopped in her tracks causing Carl to crash into her. She suddenly felt very sober.

"Nic?"

"Shit!"

Nicole started running towards Zobelle's store, well she tottered more than ran considering she was wearing 5 inch heels.

Happy heard the clicking of heels against concentrate, someone was heading in their direction. He turned around and saw a figure coming towards him. It wasn't until the figure got closer that he realised who it was. He headed towards her.

"Wha th..he hell going.._Hiccup..._Hap." Happy could tell straight away that she was drunk, she was making so sense.

"Your drunk."

"Hap..."

"Fine." Happy knew that he might as well tell her she was only going to keep bothering him if he didn't. "Zobelle and his daughter admitted to having drugs so that Hale had to arrest them." He grabbed her arm, trying to steady her as she swayed.

"Why?" 

"Because Clay was about to kill him." Nicole let her eyes fall back to Happy, instead of the drama behind him.

"Nic you okay?" Carl asked as he finally arrived at her side. Nicole didn't answer him she was still staring at Happy, trying to get her mind around what he had just told her.

"Who are you?" Happy looked Carl up and down.

"That's Carl he's a friend of Nic's, works at the garage." Happy turned his head to the side where Juice was now standing. "She needs to get back to the clubhouse." Juice said as he stared at Nicole who was staring back at him.

"I ta..ke her." Carl said as he stood there swaying.

"NO." Happy spoke firmly to Carl.

"I've alr... got...a cab" Carl slurred.

"Well good you have a ride home then, but Nicole ain't going with you." Happy could tell that Carl was getting annoyed but he didn't care.

Happy passed a silent Nicole into Juice's arms. As Nicole was ushered away she looked back at Happy and Carl. She couldn't hear what they were saying but she guessed that Happy was telling Carl to go home and sleep off the booze. She hoped Carl wasn't stupid enough to try fight him on that.

"She okay?" Clay asked as Juice passed by holding Nicole up.

"Yeah just think she's a little wasted."

"I'm f...ine." She mumbled. She looked around at everyone "Jay..where's... Jay?" No one answered, no one wanted to be the one to tell her.

"Take her to the clubhouse."

Juice grabbed his helmet from his bike, he pushes away her hair that had fallen on her face as he gently secured the helmet onto her. "Now are you going to hold onto me?"

"Yeap."

"Good."

He helped her get onto his bike before climbing on himself. As he started the engine he was about to tell her to hold on to him, but he felt her arms wrap tightly around his waist. He smiled to himself as he felt her body close against his, he had missed her touch. Nicole however could only think about what she had and done and what the consequences were of her telling Hale, but no matter what had happened tonight she was happy that Juice was here with her with.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

Juice arrived back at the clubhouse. As he parked his bike, he felt Nicole's hands slip from around his waist as she got of his bike. He turned around just in time to see her stumble.

Nicole placed her hand on the railing just in front on her. She lowered her head causing her hair to fall in front of her covering her face. Juice raced to her side placing a steadying hand around her waist. She flipped her hair over her shoulder so that she could look at Juice, who was looking rather concerned for her but she was too nauseous to answer him.

Juice took her hand from the railing and placed her arm around his neck. In one swift motion he bent down picking up her legs with his other arm. He pulled her close to him as she wrapped her other arm around his neck burying her head into the crook of his neck.

As he carried her into the clubhouse Gemma rushed over to him.

"Jesus Christ is she..." 

"Yeah, she drank a little too much." Gemma looked at her niece who was now sleeping peacefully in Juice's arm.

"Take her to Jackson's room."

############################

Nicole started to stir as she the sunlight hit her face through the blinds. Her eyes fluttered open but she quickly closed them again as the light hurt her tired eyes. Turning her body away from the light, she tried again to open eyes, this time more successfully. As the room came into focus she saw someone sitting in the chair opposite the bed. A smile crept onto her face as she watched him sleeping in the chair.

She pulled the blanket off her that Juice had obviously put over her, and takes the blanket with her as she walked over to Juice. As she placed the blanket over him she lightly kissed him on the cheek. She found herself staring at his sleeping from. He had been nothing but nice to her and all she had done was throw it back in his face.

Her thoughts were cut off when her cell started ringing. Locating her purse that was on the night stand she pulled out her cell and cancelled the call. She spun around to see if the noise had woken Juice, she was glad to see that he was still asleep.

Once she was outside Jax's room she checked her cell to see who was calling her this early in the morning, she froze when she saw Ryan's name. She quickly called him back, she was worried she hadn't heard a word from him since the whole Jax and Happy situation.

"Ry, where the hell have you been?"

"I'm sorry I left without saying anything but I figured I better let Happy cool off."

"What why?"

"He threatened me in the kitchen." 

"He did what, what did he say to you?"

"Look it doesn't matter it just proves that I was wrong we can't be together Charming."

"What do you mean?" Nicole felt her heart drop was he leaving her.

"I think we should leave." Nicole was stunned into silence. "Nic you still there?"

"Yeah." She ran her fingers through her hair as she paced the floor. As she turned around she saw Gemma standing at the bottom of the hallway, staring at her.

Nicole turned her back on Gemma. "Look I have to go." She whispered into her cell.

"Will you meet me later?" 

"Yeah...yeah um call me later." She hung up before turning back to face Gemma who had a questioning look on her face.

Nicole composed herself as she walked towards her. She looked at the coffee that Gemma was holding in her hands.

"Any more of that?"

"Here.." Gemma held out the coffee mug, "This is for you. I was just coming to see if you were awake, I see that you are." 

"Thanks." Nicole took a sip of the coffee, god it tasted good.

"Who was on the phone?"

"Carl, just wanted to check how I was." Nicole hated how easily the lies were coming out. 

"Really." Nicole could hear in Gemma's tone that she didn't believe her. Ignoring looking at Gemma she took a seat at the bar.

"Where is everyone?" She asked quickly changing the subject.

"Police station."

"Why?" Gemma took a seat next to Nicole who finally looked at her.

"Jax was arrested last night." Nicole almost choked on her coffee.

"Why didn't anybody tell me?"

"Well you were kinda out of it."

"I can't believe he did this, son of bitch." Nicole jumped off her chair and started heading back to Jax's room.

"Who you talking about.?"

"Fucking Hale." Nicole shouted as she disappeared down the corridor.

#####################

When Nicole entered the room she saw that Juice was still asleep. She walked into the bathroom quickly brushing her teeth before running a brush through her hair, pulling into a low ponytail.

"Juice, hey come on sleepy head." Nicole nudged him gently, she smiled when she saw that he was starting to stir.

"Hmm...what is it?" He asked sleepily as he rubbed his eyes.

"We need to go."

"W?here" Juice asked slowly becoming more awake.

"Police station." Nicole said as she sat on the bed, pulling on her boots.

##############################

When Juice and Nicole they saw Clay and the others sittingon a police car. Juice let Nicole get off before he parked up. She walked over to Clay.

"What's going on"

"They arrested Jax and Weston last night at Timberland. The rest you know." Nicole turned on her heels and started storming towards the station, but Clay stopped her.

"Where are you going?"

"To get Jay out." Clay laughed at her. "What?"

He pointed over her shoulder where Unser was escorting Jax down the steps. Clay released Nicole as he could feel her pulling towards Jax.

When she reached Jax she threw her arms around his neck. Jax stumbled backwards from the force of her hug, but he finally wrapped his arms around her waist. They share an embrace for a while, before she pulled away.

"Are you okay?" Jax nodded. Nicole turned her attention to Unser "Where's Hale?"

"Inside."

"Nic don't even think about it, come on we've got bigger problems than Hale right now." Jax pushed her in front of him as he headed over to the other guys, Unser following behind them. Everybody gaves Jax a hug or a handshake.

"Right let's get out of here." Opie suggested.

"Actually..."

"What is it now" Clay asked Jax, dreading the worst.

"Unser you want to take this one." All eyes were on the Chief.

"Zobelle and his daughter are going to be released it seems he has been working for the FBI."

"A rat?" Nicole mused, Unser nodded in agreement.

"Yeah he's been working with them for years giving them any Intel that keeps his ass out of jail."

"So he's protected." Clay rubbed his hand over his face, this was unbelievable.

"Look."

Happy pointed in the direction of the station. Zobelle and his daughter Polly were being escorted out by Hale and a man wearing a suit, he definatly belonged to FBI.

Hale looked over at all the eyes that were staring at them, he eyes locked straight away with Nicole's, he could tell she was pissed with him because he had broken his promise to her. He turned back to Zobelle.

"My men will escort you where ever you need to go."

"That won't be necessary Deputy Hale" Zobelle answered as himself and his daughter got into their car.

"Holy shit" Nicole mumbled as hers and everybody else's attention was now on the formation of Harleys driving up the road.

"Looks like browns are protecting their investment." Happy muttered.

Zobelle pulled his car into the middle of the formation of bikers. Alvarez led the way as they drove off.

"Come on, let's follow." Clay instructed. He gave Nicole a kiss before joining the others as they climbed onto their bikes. Jax turned back to Nicole, Happy standing next to him.

"It's not going to be safe for you, will you get a ride home with Unser?"

"Yeah of course, just be safe." Jax and Happy went to walk away but Nicole grabbed Happy's arm.

He turned to look at her. She knew that if anyone else had grabbed him like that they wouldn't be breathing for long, but she knew that she could get away with it.

"What?" Nicole looked at Jax.

"Give us a second." Jax looked at her in curiosity but agreed.

"I'll let you know where we are Hap." Jax climbed on his bike, catching up with the others.

"So..."

"What did you say to him?"

"To who."

"Ryan." Happy shook his head as he laughed a humorous laugh.

"He went running to you, god that guys a bigger dick than I realised."

"I get that you were looking out for me, but I never asked you to. So from now on stay out of business" She went to leave but this time it was Happy turn to stop her.

"I don't care if you want me to or not, as long as I'm around and your around and your in trouble then I will protect you. Because like it or not were family and that's what families do. Anyone of them guys would do the same thing if they knew about Ryan."

"Well then maybe I shouldn't be here."

She pulls away from him and headed inside the station. She looked around for Unser. She located him just outside his office, her joy of finding him however didn't last long when she realised he was with Hale. In one way she kind of felt sorry for him, because today was the wrong to cross her and Hale was about to feel the full effect of her bad mood.

"Are you happy?" She spat at Hale gaining not just his attention but everyone else's who happened to in the station.

"I had to do my job." He said defensively.

"How about we take this inside." Unser ushered them both inside his office, he didn't want everyone hearing Samcro business, and he was sure Nicole would agree when she calmed down. "Right does someone want to fill me in on what's going on here."

"He lied to me." Nicole started.

"Like I said Nicole I had to do my job."

"That's it hide behind your badge, you promised me you wouldn't arrest them."

"I can't believe that you're being like this." Hale turned away as he rubbed his jaw.

"Ditto, you know what they did to Gemma, you know that she will never make a statement against them which means it's up to us to sort this shit out, but somehow you just keep saving them. God I can't believe I told you where they were how could I be so stupid." Nicole's hands were on her hips in a very Gemma-esc way.

"I've heard enough." Unser shouted "Nicole I'm taking you back to the clubhouse."

"Nic I really do want to help you with this." Nicole looked at him and could tell that he was genuine.

"You really want to help David?"

"Yes."

"Then start acting like a friend and not a cop."

"What do you want me to do Nic, I can't just forget that I'm a cop."

"You still have Weston here?"

"Yeah." Hale answered slightly confused by her question.

"Let me talk to him."

"What" Unser snapped now including himself in their conversation.

"No way." Hale told her firmly.

"You want to help, then this is how you can do it, please. Plus he's behind bars what can happen." Hale looked past Nicole and stared at Unser who was shaking his head showing that he didn't like this idea. His eyes fell back onto Nicole, who was giving him a pleading look.

"God I'm going to regret this."

"Hale you can't be serious." Unser argueed but Hale didn't listen.

He took Nicole to the holding cells, as she went to walk inside he placed he extended his arm in front of her.

"You have two minutes with him. You shout if you need me, I'll be just outside."

"Okay."

Nicole took a breath before walking into the cells. Weston was sitting on his bed, he turned his head towards her as he heard her enter. A smile rests on his face at the sight of her.

"Well who do I owe this pleasure to you?" She ignored him and looks around the other empty cells.

"I see your boss got out."

"He ain't my boss or my concern, you however are quickly becoming it." She laughed slightly, although she tried to hide it he could tell that there was fear behind her laugh.

"Well maybe he should be your concern. The suit that walked him out of here, it wasn't a lawyer he was an FBI handler, your boss is a rat." Weston was now on his feet standing against the bars. Nicole stepped back.

"You're lying." He seethed.

"Why would I lie?"

"Then why are you telling me this?"

"Because I would love to see you rip him apart." She stepped back towards him. "And then we'll rip you apart" He reached his hand threw the gap in the bars and grabbed her wrist, pulling her closer to him, she tries to hide her fear.

"How about I rip you apart." She tried to pull away but he placed his other arm through the bars, wrapping it around her waist. He now had her pinned against the bars. Nicole was struggling against his grip but he was too strong.

"I wish we had got you instead something tells me you would have been more fun than your Aunt, not that I have much to complain about."

"You make me sick and I can't wait for Jay to cut you up, don't worry I'll make sure he takes his time so that you can feel every second of the mind numbing pain." She snapped through gritted teeth.

He moves his hand from her waist, and grabs her head before he rammed it against the bars. Nicole gasped in pain as her head made contact with the cool metal.

Hale walked up and down the hallway, he kept checking his watch, that was until Unser had made an appearance and started lecturing him about letting Nicole see Weston. Both of them stopped arguing when they heard a small cry come from the holding cells. Looking at one another they ran into the cells. They were both shocked when they saw that Weston had Nicole pinned against his cell. Hale pulls out his gun aiming it at Weston.

"Let her go." Weston dropped his hand from her head but keeps hold of her wrist.

"Ryan, you figured out how he found you yet?" He whispered to Nicole.

"I'm not going to ask you again, let go of her" Hale shouted. But was shocked when Nicole placed her free hand up signalling him to stop.

"He's was working with us. He knew about everything. He was the one that lit the match on Cara Cara, he did it all just so he could get to you, so that he could kill you."

As Weston saw the realisation wash over her he finally let her go. Unser rushed to her side, walking her out of the holding cell. Hale quickly followed.

They were both talking to her but she couldn't hear anything she was in shock. It wasn't until she felt something running down her face, she was bleeding.

"Come on lets get you cleaned up before I take you home." Unser spoke softly.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

Piney let Unser drive through the gates at Teller/Morrow he managed to get a quick glance of Nicole sitting in the passenger seat. He had known that girl long enough, to know when she was upset. Once Unser had parked the car Piney moved towards the passenger door. Opening it he bent down to Nicole's side, she sheepishly turned to face him. Piney placed his hand on her cheek examining the cut that rested just above her left eyebrow. He gave her a sympathetic smile before turning to look at Unser.

"What happened?"

"Weston. I'll take her inside."

"No, you've done enough. I'll take her."

Piney lightly took hold of Nicole's hand, helping her out the car. Nicole felt unsteady on her legs. Piney realised this because he places her hand around her waist to support her. Neither one of them said goodbye to Unser as they disappeared into the clubhouse.

"You okay sweetheart?" Nicole barely managed to nod her head.

She hadn't spoken a word since she had left the police station. Weston's last words had shaken her. Was he telling the truth? Was Ryan really working with Zobelle and Weston? Nicole was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't even realise that they had made it into the clubhouse.

"Tara" Piney shouted above the crowd. Tara popped her head out of the kitchen and that's when her eyes landed on Piney who was sitting Nicole down on the sofa. "Will you take a look at her?"

"I'll get my kit."

"So what happened?" Piney asks but again Nicole remained silent. Her silence scared him. Tara knelt down in front of Nicole.

"What happened?" Tara questioned.

"Apparently she had a run in with Weston." Piney spoke in a gruff voice. 

"But he's in prison." Tara was now looking up at Piney.

"Exactly. I'm not sure on the details. She hasn't spoken since she got here. She concussed or something?" Tara went back to examining Nicole.

"No she doesn't have concussion. I just think she's in shock." Tara placed a band aid on her cut. Getting up and she stood next to Piney. "Your right though something is up. Let me talk to her." 

"A bit of girl talk, course sweetheart."

"Why don't you have a lie down. Come on" Tara guided Nicole to Jax's room.

Tara made sure that Nicole was settled on the bed before she left the room. Nicole waited until she heard the door close before she finally let out a cry. She covered her face with her hands. She couldn't believe Ryan had come here to kill her. Her mind kept replaying the last time she had seen him, he was so loving and caring towards her, she found it hard to believe that he wanted her dead but then again what did she know she thought he would never hit her or hurt her but he had proved her wrong so many times. Tara walked back in to the room carrying two glasses, she handed one to Nicole.

"Brandy it's for the shock." She saw the questioning look on the Nicole's face "Trust I'm a doctor." Tara joined Nicole of the bed. "So are you ready to talk about it?" Nicole didn't say anything. "Look I know your having some problems wi..."

"You know shit about my problems T." Nicole took a drink. She caught a glimpse of Tara out of the corner of her eye, "Jay told you didn't he?" Tara nodded her head, as Nicole shook hers in annoyance. "I should have known."

"He hasn't told me the full story just the cliff notes. You know you can talk to me Nic, I might be able to help." 

"Help me... you have no idea what..." 

"What you're going through. Actually yes I do." Tara took a swig of her drink before she continued. "The reason I came back here was because, I was running away from my ex. He used to hit me and I covered it up for a long time just like you. I finally got the courage to leave him, but using his contacts he managed to track me down."

"He came to Charming."

"Yes. He said he was here on business but that was a lie, he came here for me." 

"Business?"

"He was an ATF agent..."

"Wait, are you talking about Kohn?"

"You know about him?" 

"Not really, Jay just gave me the cliff notes." Nicole answered using Tara's own words. "So what happened?" Nicole watched as Tara avoided her gaze "Jay dealt with it didn't he?" 

"Yes he..." Nicole raised her hand indicating Tara to stop.

"I don't need to know any more, I get it. He protected you, did what was needed."

"And he'll do the same for you."

"I know he will."

"And that's the problem isn't it?"

"I just need to get things sorted in my head first before Jay goes in all guns blazing. Do you understand that?"

"Completely. Nic I am here for you whenever or whatever you want to talk about."

"Thanks T." The two of them shared a hug only pulling apart when there was a knock at the door.

"Come in." Nicole and Tara answered in unison. Half Sack popped his head around the door.

"Sorry to interrupt, but Tara are you ready to go?" Tara looked back at Nicole.

"Go on I'll be fine."

"Okay, do you want to come?"

"Nah think I'm going to stay here, clear my head."

"Okay." Tara and Half sack left Nicole sitting in Jax's room. She fell back against the bed and closed her eyes hoping that her thoughts would stop.

###################

Once Zobelle and his daughter were inside, he started clearing out his desk draws. Polly sat in her fathers chair, she couldn't believe how quickly things had unravelled for them.

"What are we going to do Daddy?"

"We adjust and adapt like we always do." He told her. 

"What if the Mayans find out about you working with the FBI?"

"That's why we have to move fast, because we will no longer have their protection."

"But where are we going to go?"

"I'll charter a plane to take us back to Budapest."

"Today?"

"Yes." Zobelle saw the worry I his daughters eyes as stood up.

"I have to go."

"Where?" Zobelle questioned although he already knew the answer.

"To pack my things." Polly looked at her father nervously as she lied to him.

"Don't lie to me... You're going to see him aren't you?"

Zobelle was referring to Edmund Hayes. Polly had met him while Zobelle was trying to set up a business proposition with his father Cameron Hayes and Jimmy O. Zobelle wanted to take over Samcro gun deals. He was happy when Cameron agreed to sell the AK's to him rather than Samcro, but he wasn't happy with the relationship that had developed between Edmund and his Daughter especially since his dealings with Cameron and Jimmy O had gone south. But Polly was insistent on seeing Edmund.

"I have done everything you have asked of me, I love and respect you but this is something that I have to do." She kissed her father goodbye. "I'll be back in an hour."

While all this was happening inside the store, drama was also unfolding outside. Some of the Sons had pulled up on the other side of the street opposite Zobelle's store and the Mayans who were standing their ground outside Zobelle's store.

Clay stared across the street at Alvarez, the President of the Mayans, he was staring back at him. Their gaze was obstructed as two police cars pulled into the middle of the street acting like a barricade between the two MC's. Two armed officers stood guard facing Clay and his men, while another two officers did the same with Alvarez.

Hale and Unser arrived shortly after. Unser was still mad with Hale, but had given up on lecturing him about his mistake as he could tell that he was feeling more than guilty for what had happened with Nicole. Hale summoned one of the officers towards himself and Unser.

"So what happening, where we at?" Hale asked observing the scene in front of him.

"We've moved Floyd and anyone else who might be in the line of fire." 

"Anything happened between them?" Hale motioned between Clay and Alvarez.

"No they've just been standing there staring at one another."

"Okay." The officer went back to his postion.

"I get you helping Samcro for Gemma, but if they open fire in Main Street I'll have no choice I will have to call the sheriff." Hale expressed.

"This is Charming business Hale, and as it stands I still out rank you." Jax broke up their conversation before Hale could respond. He sped pass the pair towards Clay and the others. "Anyway I think that you have more pressing things to worry about. Someone has to tell them about Weston and Nicole."

Hale took a deep breath before making his way towards them. Unser waited a second before following Hale he did kind of feel sorry for Hale because he knew the Sons were not going to like what he was about to tell them.

Jax dismounted his bike, removing his helmet before facing Clay. Clay filled him on what happened while Jax had been sorting out a way to get information to Auto, so that he could send the message through prison and regain his protection inside. Hale cleared his throat behind Jax, he quickly gainned everyone's attention.

"Weston out yet?" Jax asked.

"Yeah we just had him released." Hale answered. He looks back at Unser, who gave him a nod telling him to continue. Clay picked up on this.

"What is it?" Clay looked directly at Unser for answers but it was Hale who gave spoke.

"It's Nicole." He avoided eye contact with them. All of the Sons suddenly tensed up as they moved closer towards Hale. They all start to fire questions at him.

"Is she okay?" Juice spoke.

"What's happened?" Opie said at the same time as Juice. Clay raised his hand silencing the voices behind him.

"Hale would you mind explaining a little more on what is going on with my niece." Hale finally met his eye.

"She asked if she could speak to him..."

"Speak to who?" Jax demanded cutting Hale off.

"Weston."

"Come again." Clay closed the gap between himself and Hale. Unser moved to Hale's side placing a hand against Clay's chest and pushing him back slightly.

"So I take it by the way you're acting it didn't go well. Just tell me you were in there with her." Hale looked nervously at his feet. "Fuck sake Hale, I can't believe you left her alone with him, what else happened?"

"He...he hit her, had her pinned against the cell. I went in their as soon as I heard that she was in trouble."

"Where is he...WHERE?" Jax screamed.

"He has a meeting with a social worker, about his kids"

"I'll meet them there."

"No harm better come to my officers" Unser told Jax before he took off.

"Chibs, Ope go with him." Clay ordered. "You can leave now." He snapped at Hale before turning his back on him. "Hap, go to the clubhouse check on Princess Ju..." 

"Juice should go, I'll stay here." Happy stated, knowing full well that the last conversation that he had with her didn't go well and he would probably be the last person she would want to see right now.

"Fine, Juice you go and check on her. Tig you come with me I'm going to have a little chat with Alvarez." Everybody did as they were instructed.

Happy didn't miss the look that Juice had given him before he got on his bike and headed to the Clubhouse. He could tell that he was confused by his reaction to Clay's order. Juice on the other hand was feeling worried and desperately wanted to know why Happy was reluctant to go a watch over Nicole, was something going on between them and then that thought led him to think about Ryan. He tried to shake away these feelings. Since Nicole had come into his life, she had thrown his whole world into chaos. In some ways he loved how she did that but then there was the bad chaos that surrounded her. Piney had warned him about getting involved with a Teller, as much as he loved them all, he told him that it would never be easy or drama free because Tellers just didn't work that way, they were a family that were unfortunately followed by tragedy. Juice was quickly learning that.

As Clay and Tig were walking over to Alvarez who was now walking towards them. They were both stopped by the armed officers.

"Stop right there." The officer demanded to Alvarez. Alvarez did as he was told Clay however didn't.

"I just want a discussion with him." He told the officer standing in front of him.

Hale who was standing at his Jeep. He nodded to the officer who had caught his attention telling him to let the men continue. Both officers patted down the men to make sure they weren't carrying weapons. Once they were sure that they were clean the officers allowed them to pass by. Tig and Alvarez's right hand man stay behind, neither one of them took their eyes off their president.

"What are you doing here, last time I checked Mayans weren't welcome here."

"Were not staying long, just helping a friend out of town."

"Well let me tell you a little something about your friend. He hurt my club but more importantly he hurt my family, my wife, my niece. You have no idea who you're getting into bed with."

"I get your hurt man, but you need to send your crew home and let me do what I have to do, or..." 

"Or what?" Clays took a threatening step towards him.

"Or I'll call in another charter and we'll turn your little main street into the wild west." Clay made his way back to Tig.

"Why didn't you tell him about Zobelle being a rat?" Tig questioned.

"Because he would kill him and Zobelle's mine."

###############################

Jax, Chibs and Opie arrived at Weston's location. They pull up in the SUV. They waited for what seemed like hours, but Opie confirmed to Jax that it had only been Half an hour. They were the only words that had been said, Jax was too angry to speak his blood was boiling he'd had enough of this guy.

First he did unthinkable things to his mother, had tried to destroy his club and now he had laid hands on his baby cousin and for Jax that was the final straw Weston was going to die and it was going to happen today that he was certain of.

Chibs nudged Jax and pointed to the building where Weston was exiting. They were all shocked though when they saw that Weston was followed by his youngest son. Jax ordered Opie to call Unser to find out what was going on. Unser told Opie that Weston was aloud to spend a couple of supervised hours with his son. Chibs suggested that maybe they should wait till later and pick up Weston once he had left his son, but Jax put his foot down, he was killing Weston today end of.

They waited outside the Tattoo parlour where Weston was. They all agreed that they had to get Weston away from his kid, thankfully the guy who owned the place was a friend of Opie's.

Freddie left Weston on the table as he answered the phone. "Hey this is Freddie" 

"It's Opie, I need a favour. They guy on your table Weston, the club wants him, he raped a members mother." Opie saw Jax muscles tighten at his lasts words

"Okay."

"We need to get him away from the kid. In 5 minutes give him a reason to go to the bathroom. Can you do that?"

"I have no problem with that." 

"Thanks man I owe you."

Freddie continued working on Weston, when he accidentally let the needle slip so that it would cause Weston to bleed. Freddie apologized and told him that he could clean himself up in the bathroom in the back. Unfortunately though Weston took his son with him.

Opie hid behind the door to the bathroom ready to grab Weston when he entered, but stopped when he saw Weston's son enter first closely followed by Weston.

Chibs and Jax walked in through the back door, Weston pulled his son against him. Jax told him to get rid of his son, his tone left no room for discussion. Weston accepted his fate and agreed. He bent down so that he was eye level with his son. He told his son to go back inside and wait for him. He also told him not to say anything to the men outside. His son nodded at his father and left the bathroom. Jax squared up to Weston, he knew what was coming.

"My son doesn't see this." 

"You don't get to make any demands you piece of shit." Chibs handed Jax a gun with a silencer on the end so that no one would hear. Jax punched Weston first, Opie grabbed him before he hit the floor. Opie placed him back onto his feet.

"That's for Nicole." Jax raised his gun and shot Weston clean in the head, again Opie grabbed his lifeless body but this time he lowered him to the floor. "And that's for my Mom."

####################

Nicole had tried to sleep but it wasn't happening, so she decided head to the bar hoping maybe she could find something to do to keep herself and her mind occupied. As she opened the door she saw Juice sitting opposite Jax's room on the floor. He quickly stood up when he saw her.

"What are yo..." Juice quickly cut her off as he places his hands on her face. His eyes examined the damage Weston had left on her.

"Hale told us what happened, Clay sent me back to check you were okay. Are you?"

"Yeah."

He pulled her into a hug. Nicole felt herself lean into Juice's safe embrace. As he went to pull away she wasn't ready, and pulled him back towards her. Juice didn't know how long they had been stood like this, him holding her in his arms, but he didn't want to disturb it.

Nicole hadn't said anything or showed any emotion she just held onto him. He was trying to think of something to say to her but he couldn't find any words as he didn't know what was a matter with her. But he had a funny feeling that this reaction wasn't from what Weston had done it was something else. Once again Juice's thought were brought back to Happy and Ryan.

His mind was forced back on track when felt her move. He looked down at her, but she wasn't looking at him, her eyes were fixed over his shoulder.

Nicole heard the remaining Sons enter the bar. She looked back and Juice They both clearly made out the new voices, it was Clay, Bobby, Tig and Happy.

"I think I should go and see Clay."

"Okay" Nicole could sense that something was wrong with him. She cupped his face in her hands and looked him dead in his eyes. She saw them soften.

"Your a good guy Juice, don't forget that." She lets go of his face and made her way to the bar. Juice watched as she disappeared around the corner.

"But the good guy never gets girl." He muttered to himself.

As she walked towards the bar she saw that Tig was pouring them all a shot, Tequila it looked like from her view. "I thought you were watching Zobelle's store?" Nicole asked making her presence known.

They turn to face her but it was Clay who advanced towards her "Princess." He pulled her into a hug. She wraps her arms around him trying to saviour every inch of him.

"We were but Alvarez threatened to turn main street into the wild west so we left." Clay told her as he pulled away.

"You left Zobelle alone?"

"No I left some nomads their to watch him, their just out of Alvarez's site. Anyway you don't need to worry yourself about that." Clay took a good look at her. He wasn't happy to see the cut above her eyebrow.

"It's nothing" She looked past Clay towards Tig. "Tigger can I get one of those?"

"Yeah" He poured her a shot. She made her way over the bar and downed her shot.

"Heard you had a bad day." Bobby said as she turned to face him.

"You could say that." Bobby looked at her cut.

"Yeah I definitely think you did."

"Why did you do it?" Clay asked his niece.

"Because she has balls" Happy spoke making everyone laugh. Everyone apart from Nicole she just looked at Happy, she knew she had an apology to make.

"Just had to tell him a few home truths." Nicole noticed that Juice had finally entered the room but he didn't join them at the bar, instead he took a seat on one of the sofa next to a couple of crow eaters. Nicole ignored it and focused back on the others.

"So where's Jay?" No one answered her but they didn't need to because at that moment Chibs, Opie and Jax entered the clubhouse. Jax walked up to Clay.

"It's done" Jax said as Happy handed him a shot.

"I'm proud of you man." Happy raised his glass as if to toast him, everyone else did the same.

Clay and Jax share a hug this was the closet they had been in a long time, Nicole could sense that they both felt slightly uncomfortable. She notices that Jax was the first to pull away. Jax turns to face her, he nodded towards her inviting her towards him. He kissee her by the cut above her eyebrow before pulling her into a tight hug. She pulled away slightly so that she could look at him.

"You okay?" Jax shook his head

"You okay?" He asked, she copied his answer and shook her head. The two finally let go of each other but Jax kept a hold of her hand. "So where we at?" Jax asks Clay.

"We have nomads watching Zobelle."

"Where's Mom?"

"She's gone out with Tara, Sack's with them." Nicole said. A silence fell between them all.

Nicole felt Jax's grasp around her hand tighten. She knew that he just wanted to be alone. She pulled him away from everyone and led him towards his room, he didn't object.

Once they were in the room Jax released her hand and lay down on his bed. Nicole was about to join him when her cell started to ring. She pulled it out of her back pocket and quickly cancelled the call when the caller ID was displaying Ryan's name.

"You can answer if you want."

"No..no this is more important...your more important." She joined him on the bed "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No."

"Okay." She lay back and snuggled against him as he placed his arm around her, the two lay on the bed silently comforting each other with their embrace.


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

**Gemma, Tara and Half Sack's day **

Tara left the clubhouse and got into her car where Gemma and baby Abel were already waiting for her. Half Sack got on his bike ready to follow them to the stores.

Gemma knew something was going on with Nicole back at the clubhouse but she wasn't sure what, so she decided to do some digging.

"So what happened with Nicole? I saw you patching her up and then taking her to Jax's room, everything okay with her?" Tara turned to look at Gemma's worried face before returning her eyes back to the road. "Spill it." 

"Okay but please don't freak out."

"What is it?"

"She went to speak to Weston when he was in jail."

"What how?"

"Managed to get round Hale, you know what she's like. Anyway long story short he hit her which is why I was patching her up."

"She going to be okay?" Gemma asked with fear.

"Physical yes, mentally I don't know. She has a lot of stuff that she's trying to deal with."

"There's more isn't there. There is something else going on with her." 

"Yes, but I don't know the full details."

"Does Jackson?"

"Yes."

"Well at least that's something."

"What do you mean?"

"If something is wrong with Nicole and Jax knows about it she will be fine. He will look after her always has done. It's them two against the world." 

"They are close."

"They've been through a lot of shit together, which I don't think they would have managed if they didn't have each other to fall back on. But hopefully when things settle she will feel that she can talk to me."

That was the end of the conversation as they arrived at the store to get there supplies. After about 40 minutes Gemma was first to leave the store, she placed her shopping bags in the trunk of Tara's car when something or more someone caught her eye. She instantly recognised the blonde girl, it was Zobelle's daughter, the girl who lied about her baby on the night of her rape.

She walked closer towards the girl hiding herself when Polly turned around. She watched as Polly turned back around and headed into a near by shop. Gemma walked back to Tara's car. Tara was placing Abel in his car seat in the back seat, while Half Sack was placing the rest of the shopping in the trunk. Gemma took the keys out of his hands and informed both of them that she was now driving. Tara shot Gemma a confused looke but agreed with her.

Gemma started the engine but didn't make an attempt to move, she just continued staring at the shop that Zobelle's daughter was now exiting from. Tara turns away from Gemma to see what had caught her eye, she didn't understand why Gemma was staring at this girl.

"Do you know that girl?"

"It's Zobelle's daughter, she was the women who told me her baby was choking." Gemma watched as Polly gots into her car. Gemma got ready to follow her. Tara noticed this.

"Where are we going" Gemma turned to face Tara.

"Forward sweetheart."

Polly finally stopped just outside Edmunds house. Gemma parked further down the street, so that Polly wouldn't get suspicious, but close enough that she was still able to see her. Gemma shut of the engine continuing to stare at Polly as she got out of her car. Tara knew that nothing good could come from this so she tried to talk Gemma out of whatever she was thinking on doing.

"That rape would have destroyed most women, but it made you stronger, wiser, compassionate. Whatever you think it is that you have to do your past this." Gemma didn't look at Tara but she does take her eyes off Polly as she stares down at her hands.

"My son, my husband their brothers even my god dam niece are out there risking their lives, their freedom for me. This is how I do my part. God's put her in my path so that I can fix that part of me that they ripped open, I'm supposed to do this." Gemma looked back up at Polly.

"Jesus do you hear your self, what you're saying." Tara was looking at Gemma panicked by how insane she was sounding, Gemma finally turned to look at her.

"Take my grandson home. Love you Tara, I'm glad your with my boy."

"Gemma please don't do this." Tara's voice was shaky. Gemma pulled Tara into a hug and kissed her on her cheek. She cupped Tara's face in her hands.

"I'll be okay." Gemma grabbed her bag and exited the car before heading towards the house Polly had entered.

Tara got out of the car, she starts to walk over to Half Sack who was already making his over to her. "Where she going?" He asked.

"Stay here, she might need to get out quick." Tara informed him.

"Oh shit." Half sack responded.

######################

The truth was that no one knew what trouble Gemma was really walking into. Edmund Hayes had been under surveillance by ATF. Agent Stahl was watching over him alone in his house. Edmund had found the gun that his father had hidden in the bathroom vent. He was sick of being watched like a hawk by Stahl, and he was also pissed off by the fact that she was setting him up to look like a rat. So he had come to the decision that he had to kill her.

He pointed the gun at Stahl, he fired a shot without even thinking, but was shocked when nothing happened. Stahl informed him that her men had found the gun and replaced the bullets with blanks just in case he tried to pull something like this, and she was shocked that he actually tried to shoot her and she was kind of impressed by him but that it was a silly move.

Edmund pushed past Stahl, hitting her in her stomach. Stahl pulled out her gun and shot him in the back twice, he fell to the ground. Stahl quickly realised what she had done. She got on her radio and informed her men that the shots they heard were the blanks and that they had under estimated him, but that everything was okay. Stahl looked at Edmund's dead body when she heard the back door open. Stahl quickly hid, but kept her gun raised.

Polly entered the house and called out for Edmund, but she didn't get a response. Polly pulled out her own gun and started surveying the room, she saw Edmund's dead body on the floor. She just fond herself staring at his lifeless form, she was about to enter the room he was in when she heard a voice behind her.

"Put the gun down." Gemma demanded. Polly turned to look at her.

"Your the one that killed him." Gemma was confused by this, but ignored it.

"Turn around."

Polly looked back at Edmund, she pretended to place the gun on the floor, but instead she turned it on Gemma. She was planning to shoot her but Gemma was quicker and she shot Polly square in the chest, her body dropping instantly to the floor.

Gemma walked towards her, one look at her Gemma knew she was dead. Gemma took her bag off her shoulder as she took a seat on the sofa. She took a deep breath closing her eyes. It was finally over she had done what she needed to do.

Her eyes quickly opened when she heard a noise next to her. She looked up to see Agent Stahl pointing a gun at her. Gemma tilted her head backwards and saw Edmund dead on the floor. She looks back at Stahl.

"Bloody day for both of us."

"Push your gun onto the floor." Gemma followed her instructions. Stahl picked up her gun and took a seat opposite her.

"What's going to happen now?"

"Was she the one who helped in the rape." Stahl looked at Polly. Gemma simply nodded "I'm sorry that happened to you." 

"So."

"So leave, I'll give you a head start, go and say goodbye to your family. Leave through the back, so that you avoid my officers." Gemma was baffeled by Stahl, but decides to get up and leave. She headed to towards the back door.

"Hey." Stahl shouted. Gemma turned around as Stahl threw her own gun at Gemma, who without thinking caught the gun.

"What are you doing?" Stahl was now standing in front of her, with her gun raised. Gemma knew she shouldn't have trusted her, she was setting her up. Gemma dropped the gun.

"You are a smart bitch."

"Clocks ticking Gemma." Gemma shook her head at Stahl before she left through the back door.

Stahl waited a minute or two before she radioed through, informing her men that Gemma Morrow had killed both Edmund Hayes and Polly Zobelle and that she had tackled her and taken off.

########################

Half Sack was still watching the house when the police cars pulled up outside the house that Gemma had entered. He drove back to Jax's house. He was unaware that he was being followed.

Tara was in the kitchen putting away the shopping when Half Sack got there. "Where's Gemma?" She's asked when she noticed that Half Sack was alone.

"The police turned up I had to leave."

"Shit."

"I think it's time we called Jax." Tara agreed.

"Hey... I didn't want to bother you with this but Gemma followed Zobelle's daughter..." Tara screamed as she turned around to see Cameron Hayes in front of her, a gun raised in her face.

Cameron grabbed the phone out of Tara's hand and dropped it to the floor. He pushed her into one of the kitchen chairs. Before turning his gun onto Half Sack.

"Give me your weapon?" Half Sack handed his weapons over.

"What are you doing...what do you want?" Tara asked fear seeping in her tone.

"Gemma killed my Eddie." He moved closer to Tara "Figured maybe I'd kill me an old lady even the score." Cameron pointed the gun into Tara's face.

Half Sack moved forward to try and protect her, but Cameron turns his gun back onto him. "Don't get brave boyo..sit...SIT" Half Sack reluctantly took a seat opposite Tara.

Cameron walked over to Abel who was in his baby carrier on top of the counter. Tara had placed him there so that she could keep a safe eye on him while she put the shopping away, how wrong she had been,Tara thought to herself. Both Tara's and Half Sack's eyes were glued to Abel, they were both on pins thinking of different scenarios that this crazed man could do.

"Maybe a son for a son." Cameron suggested as he grabs a knife from the block on the unit, placing the blade near Abel who was now crying hysterically.

Half Sack lunged himself at Cameron not caring of the consequences. Cameron turns around and impaled the knife into Half Sack. He grabbed hold of the young man's shoulder and pushed him further onto the knife. Tara was quickly by their side trying to get Cameron to release Half Sack. Once Cameron was sure that he had caused deadly damage he let him out of his grip.

Half Sacks lifeless body fell to the floor. Tara knelt by his side, she quickly checked his pulse but started to cry when she couldn't find one. She turned back to face his killer who once again was pointing his gun at her. The next thing Tara knew was that her whole world went black.


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

**Jax's Day**

Jax and Nicole had been lying in silence for over an hour. Although neither of them had said a word both were feeling slightly better as they knew being together somehow made their words feel safer. Their silence however was interrupted by a knock on the door. Both them sat up, Nicole turned to face Jax, she could tell that he still needed to be alone.

"I'll tell them to go away." Jax smiled at her. He loved that she knew what he was thinking without having to say a word. As she got up to answer the door he lay back down.

Nicole opened the door to find Bobby standing on the other side. Judging by the look on his face something serious was going on. "Everything okay Bobby?"

"Sorry for the interruption but Zobelles is on the move, we have to leave now."

Jax overheard the conversation and as soon as he heard Zobelle's name he was on his feet and by Nicole's side in seconds. "Let's go."

The three of them made their way into the bar where the rest of the guys were waiting. Nicole noticed that everyone else in the room was staring at the guys in ore.

Jax accepted his weapon from Piney as he watched Nicole approach Clay. He couldn't hear what she was saying to him but what ever it was made Clay laugh. But that was Nicole, she always had a way about her that could make people smile no matter how bad the situation was.

The Sons picked up Zobelle's trail and were ready to put their plan into action. They fell behind two of Alvarez's crew members. Clay signalled to the lorry that was behind them. The lorry pulled up alongside Zobelle's car before pulling up in front of the two Mayan bikers that were in front of his car.

Zobelle fond himself looking at the lorry in front of him, he knew something wasn't right. Looking behind him he saw the sons were following them. When he turned back to face the lorry, he noticed that the back door was opening.

Piney, Happy and a couple of Nomad Sons raised their weapons and started shooting. They took out the two bikers at the front, before Piney took out the tyre of Zobelle's car causing the car to come to a halt.

Jax took the lead and stopped his bike. He jumped off and pulled out his weapon, as he started firing at the Mayans, the other Son's followed his lead. Alvarez got out of the car and pulled out his own weapon before running for cover.

Zobelle moved over to the drivers side and started to drive away. He knew that the tyre was badly damaged and he wouldn't be able to get very far but hopefully it would take him far enough that he could get some backup.

"Back off Alvarez or we finish this." Clay threatened as Jax fired a warning shot to him. Alvarez looked at his men who were on the floor and conceded to Clay threats.

###################

Clay ordered Piney and Happy to go back to the clubhouse, just in case their was any backlash from this. Clay wanted to make sure his family was safe.

The rest of the guys follow Zobelle, they locate him at a local diner. The tyre had finally given out on him. Jax sent Tig to check it out.

"He's in there al right but he's surrounded by a bus load of kids." Tig said as he made his way back to them.

"Yeah and he's probably calling for back up, maybe even the Sheriff." Bobby said.

"Who gives a shit." Jax snapped.

"We wait for the kids to clear, then we kill him." Everyone agreed with Clay's statement.

As they continued to wait for the kids to leave Jax got a call from Tara. "Hey...What's a matter" He questions, the next thing he heard was her scream. "Tara...TARA...TARA" The phone went dead.

All the guys turn their attention to Jax when they heard him calling Tara's name. "I have to go something's wrong" Jax looked at the diner then back at Clay.

"GO" Clay told him.

"I'm going with you brother." Opies added. Chibs also decided to go with Jax.

As they got to Jax's house Chibs kicked down the front door and immediately noticed Half Sack lying bloodied on the floor. Chibs fell to his side. Jax takes one look at his body and starts to panic, he called out for Tara but got no response. He ran into the nursery and saw Tara tied and gagged. He quickly started untying her.

"Baby you okay?" He asked as he removed the gag from around her mouth. He places his hand near the bruise that was staring to form on her cheek.

"He took Abel." Jax felt his heart sink.

"What?" He got up to check inside Abel's crib, it was empty. "Who took him?"

Chibs and Opie just entered the room and were slightly confused by what was going on, and by what Tara was saying "That Irish man I patched up."

"Cameron." Opie stated "What's he done?"

"He's taken Abel." Jax ran his fingers through his hair before pulling out his cell.

#################

The school kids were leaving the diner. Clay, Juice, Tig and Bobby were all ready to go inside and finish this, but Clay stopped when his cell starts ringing.

"Everything okay?" Clay asked

"I need you, Irish have taken Abel." Clay hangs up and turned to face the others.

"We need to leave." 

"What why he's in there alone we can end this." Tig urged.

"Irish kidnapped my grandson."

Zobelle watches them leave, he was shocked and confused by this but most of all he was relieved.

#########################

Clay and the others met up with Jax, Chibs and Opie, they headed towards the Docks. They roughly parked their bikes and started surveying the area in the hunt for Cameron. Jax saw him running for a boat, he calls the other guys, as they all started chasing him. But they were too late by the time they all reached the end of dock Cameron was already in the boat speeding across the waters.

"He took my son." Jax stated in disbelief. "HE TOOK MY SON" Jax legs gave way making him fall to the ground. Clay caught him and pulled him close. Jax tears started to fall before he finally let out a scream of pain.


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

**Nicole's Day**

Nicole and Jax follow Bobby into the bar where the rest of the guys were waiting. Nicole walked up to Clay. She leant onto her tiptoes and whispered in his ear."Give him hell"

She gave him a kiss on the cheek before lowering herself to normal height. She smiled when she saw Clay laughing at what she had said. He kisses her forehead. She looked at all of them, all of her family, she told them to be safe. She stepped aside to let them pass. As she watches them leave she noticed that Lyla was standing alone, she had a look on her face that Nicole knew all to well it was a look that she had even experienced herself, it was a look of worry and fear but with and edge of pride. Nicole walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. When Lyla turned to face her she could see the tears forming in her eyes, Nicole led her to a seat at the bar.

"I know it may not seem like it now but it does get easier to watch them leave."

"You and Gemma always seem okay with it all."

"Trust me we are not fine. We just know how to bury are fears, it's for their sake as much as ours."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll understand more one day."

"I don't know if I can handle it."

"Well you need to figure that out and quickly, Opie is falling for you I can see it and I've seen the way you look at him." Lyla finally let her tears fall. "You can't have the man without accepting the club, it's part of him it's his family and one day if you do decided to stick with Ope we will be your family too. But you have to be 100% sure this is what you want."

"Is it always like this?"

"No, you've just come along during a rough patch, it will get better I promise." Nicole gave Lyla a hug before leaving.

Nicole did have to admit that she did hate this part, hated the waiting. She decided to get out of the clubhouse because everyone would just be looking at her and worrying for her and she couldn't be bothered with that she just wanted some peace and quiet so that she could relax.

She decided to head to Clay and Gemma's house knowing that it would be empty. As she pulled up to the gates one of the Nomad's who was guarding the gate approached her, she rolled down her window.

"Hey Grey."

"Hey Nic, where you heading?"

"Just to Clay and Gemma's house."

"We'll you're going to have to put a hold on that." 

"Why?"

"I have no one free to go with you."

"Grey I'll be fine it's 10 minutes down the road."

"I don't know Nic Clay didn't want anyone leaving without a chaperon."

"Look Weston's dead, Clay and the others are watching Zobelle and I have a fully loaded gun in the glove box, so I think I have my protection sorted." Grey hesitated but decided to let her go.

#####################

Nicole lets herself into Clay and Gemma's, one she closeed the door she made sure she bolted it even though she had argued with Grey that she was more than safe to go out by herself, you could never be a 100% sure.

She dropped her bag to the floor and chucked her cell onto the kitchen unit before heading towards the bathroom. She ran herself a bath. Checking it was the right temperature before she climbed in. Once she was comfortable she places in her headphones and let herself drift away with the music. She finally dragged herself out of the bath when she felt the water getting cold.

Once she had dried herself she grabbed the white robe off the back of the door. Roughly towel drying her hair she exited the bathroom. She went into the kitchen when suddenly she stopped dead in her tracks. She was horrified to see Ryan sitting at the breakfast counter.

"Hey Nic."

"How did you get..." She didn't have to finish her sentence as she noticed the broken glass by the back door. He noticed what she was looking at and tried to explain.

"I tried knocking but you weren't answering and I knew you were in here so I started to worry, so I broke in. But I heard you singing in the bathroom so knew were safe. I decided I would wait for you considering you haven't been answering my calls."

Although his tone was calm she knew something was wrong. She ran her hand through her damp hair and that's when Ryan noticed the cut above her eye. Her heart stopped when she noticed that he was advancing towards her.

"What happened?"

He went to place a hand on her face, but Nicole flinched away from him. Nicole's swallowed hard when she realised what she had done, and by the look on his face he had noticed too. She quickly grabbed his hand in hers and plastered on a fake smile.

"I'm fine it's nothing." She walked past him into the kitchen, she scanned the room trying to find her cell she knew she had left it in there.

"You looking for this?" Nicole turned around to see Ryan holding her cell, he carefully placed her phone onto the counter. Nicole could feel her breathing getting quicker. She knew things were going south and it was happening fast. "You've changed your mind about us haven't you?"

"No it's just been a hectic day I was go..."

"DON'T LIE TO ME." Ryan shouted as he slammed his fist on the counter. Nicole jumped.

Nicole moved around the island in the kitchen trying to put some distance between herself and Ryan and for another reason. She knew lying to him wasn't going to help the situation but she also knew that telling the truth wouldn't help either. So she had a decision to make she could beg or she could fight, the choice was easy really she was a Teller which meant one thing she would fight. So took a deep breath and told him the truth.

"Your right I have changed my mind I don't want to leave with you. I don't want to be within a 100 feet of you." Ryan was shocked by her outburst, but Nicole wasn't finished. "I had a little chat with your friend Weston." She saw the realisation hit Ryan's face. "Yeah that's right I know everything, I know about you being in cahoots with him, I know that you were the one that burned down Cara Cara and that you want me dead. I have to admit that you almost had me fooled, almost had me believing that you were a good guy, how could I be so stupid."

Ryan's stormed towards angered by her words and her lack of respect towards him. He stopped in his tracks when Nicole pulled out a gun from the Island draw and aimed it in his face.

"Jax knows everything about us and about you hitting me and he wasn't to pleased. So your best bet, your safest bet would be to leave Charming for good." Ryan started laughing at her.

"What... What's so funny?"

"I'm going nowhere sweetheart." He inched closer towards her.

"I will shoot you if you come any closer, I swear to god."

"Go ahead." She looked at him confused. "What you didn't think I'd do a quick sweep of the rooms. The gun ain't loaded babe."

"You're lying." Fear was starting to overcome her.

"Then shoot me." Nicole pulled the trigger but nothing happened, she repeats the action and again nothing happened. Ryan moved quickly and grabbed her around her throat slamming her into the counter behind her.

#######################

Happy and Piney arrived back at Teller/Morrow. Happy went to find Nicole to give her a run down on what had happened, he knew she would be dying to know. He did a scan of the building but he didn't find her. He started asking people if they hd seen her. When no one inside seemed to know where she was he headed outside to ask the guys at the gates.

"Hey any of you seen Nicole?" 

"Yeah, she left about an hour ago." Grey told him.

"Where did she go?"

"Clay and Gemma's I think."

"Thanks." Happy pulled out his cell and dialled Nicole's number.

################

Ryan and Nicole's attention fall onto her cell. Nicole looked back at him and noticed that he was still watching her cell. She took advantage of him being distracted, and kneed him as hard as she could in his groin. He doubled over in pain.

"You fucking bitch." Nicole picked her cell, she saw Happy's caller ID.

"HAPPY...HAP..."

Nicole dropped the phone as Ryan's kicked her to the ground. Ryan stepped over her and grabbed her phone throwing it against the wall causing it to smash into pieces.

He dragged her to her feet by her hair. He punched her hard in her face causing her to fall back to the ground, he leant over her and punched her again. He pulled her back to her feet. She desperately tried to fight him off and managed to scratch his face.

He took his one hand off her and wiped his cheek. He looked at his fingers and saw blood. Shaking his head, he told her she shouldn't have done that. He threw her over the sofa, where she fell onto the coffee table causing the glass to smash, she lets out a cry of pain.

She felt her self losing control of her body, she was going to black out but she knew she couldn't let that happen she had to fight. She tried to push herself up of the floor but she kept cutting herself on the glass. Ryan watched her struggle. He walked around the sofa, as she looked up at him.

"If you want me to stop all you have to do is.."

"Beg?... I will never beg you. If you want to kill me stop talking about it and just do it you fucking pussy."

Ryan kicked her in the stomach. She wanted to scream in pain but she couldn't give him the satisfaction. He went to kick her again but this time she was ready. She grabbed a piece of glass and stabbed his thigh. He screamed in pain before he dropped onto the sofa. Nicole scrambled across the floor ignoring the pain of the glass cutting her skin, she crawled towards the door as quickly as she could but she wasn't quick enough, Ryan was already up off the sofa. He grabbed hold of her leg flippind her onto her back, she frantically tries to kick him off her but it wasn't working. He lowered himself on top of her his weight pinning her to the ground, he grabbed both of her wrists.

"That was strike 3 now your dead."

######################

Hale was sitting in his office. He was mulling over the days events, he thoughts were interrupted though when one of his officers knocked at his door.

"Sorry to interrupt you but I think you might want to check this out." The young officer stateed.

"What is it?"

"We've had a report of a disturbance."

"And."

"It's at Clay Morrows house." Hale grabbed his keys off his desk "Do you want some back up?"

"No I'll radio in if I need back up."

####################

Ryan had both her tiny wrists in his one hand pinning them to the ground. He smiled to himself when he saw the fear radiating in her eyes. He slowly started pulling the tie lose on her robe.

"Ryan what are you doing?"

"Maybe Weston had the right idea, maybe this is the only way you'll learn." He kissed her neck. Nicole jolted underneath him and she tried to struggle free.

"No...Ryan please..."

"SHUT UP."

"Ry...please no...I'm begging you"

He removed his hand from underneath her robe and cupped her face in his hand before slamming her head against the floor, knocking her out cold. He moved his hand back over her body and continued his assault on her. His eyes shot towards the door when he heard a bang. He paused for a second just staring at the door, the noise didn't happen again, so he shrugged it off and continued what he was doing, but all of sudden he saw Happy bursting through the front door.

Ryan sat up as Happy stared at the scene in front of him. He saw Nicole lying semi naked on the floor, her robe and body were covered in blood and she wasn't moving. He took in her and Ryan positioning and quickly caught on to what Ryan was planning to do.

Without hesitation he fired to shots into his chest. Ryan's body fell back down onto Nicole. Happy pushed Ryan's body off her. He pulled her into his arms, he brushed her bloodied hair out of her face.

"Nic...come on...wake up."

"What the hell?" Happy looked up and saw Hale standing in the hallway pointing his gun at him. "Step away from her." Happy lowered Nicole before standing up with his hands in front of him in a surrendering motion.

"I didn't do this Hale, he did." Happy turned around to look at Ryan's body, Hale follows his eye line.

"You shot him?" 

"I had to, he was going..." Happy looked back down at Nicole he couldn't finish his sentence.

"Leave." Hale ordered lowering his gun.

"What?"

"Get out of here, I'll deal with this." Hale noticed that Happy didn't move

"I'm not leaving her."

"I will take care of her I promise, but you have to leave or else your be serving time for murder and you will be no good to her inside."

"You're going to cover for me?"

"Not for you for her. Now go." Happy finally moved but stopped by Hale's side.

"Let me know when she's in hospital."

"Okay."

Hale putsa call over his radio calling for backup and an ambulance. He walked over to Nicole and checked for a pulse, he was happy that he found one but it was very faint, he needed the ambulance to get here and it needed get here quick.

He closed her robe to save her some dignity, he hated seeing her like this although they had been arguing lately he had always looked at her as a little sister, and if he was honest with himself if Happy hadn't shot Ryan he would have.

The ambulance finally arrived and so did the other officers. Hale filled in his officers about what had happened. He told them that he was the one that shot Ryan, no one questioned him. As the paramedics took Nicole to the ambulance Hale goes with them leaving his men to deal with the situation. Hale was about to leave through the door when the officer he had been speaking with called him back.

"Deputy Hale, we have a pulse, he's alive."


End file.
